i^iUKiiiK'- 




Class J^AV.^ 

Book t 

Copyright N"_J>^- 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



FOUR 
NEW YORK BOYS 



NEW YORK 

IN ABORIGINAL AND 

COLONIAL DAYS 



BY 

JOHN W. DAVIS 

Principal Public School Xo. S, Proiix, .Yew York City. 



EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

BOSTON 
New York Chicago San Franc^co 



(VU^ *2.- 






'3 



■>-'- 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

FEB 12 1906 

-1 Copyright Entry , 

CLASS C^ XXc, No. 
/3 % /^2L 
COPY B. 



Copyrighted 

By JOHN W. DAVIS 

1903. 



CONTENTS 

Bright-Eyes, the Indian Ko\- . . . . .7 

Hans, the Dutch Boy . . . . . .81 

George, the EngHsh Boy . . . . . 137 

Robert, the American Boy . . . . .181 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

An Indian Village . . . . . . . . Frontispiece 

Bright-Eyes . . . . - . . . . . . ,7 

An Early View of Manhattan ........ 10 

Indian Weapons ........... 24 

Indian Bowls ........... 29 

Indian Dress . . . . _. . . . . . . -30 

Bright-Eyes, with His Bow and Arrow . . . . . . . 32 

Indian Medicine Bag, Mystery Whistle, Rattle and Drum . . . .64 

Indians Traveling on .Snow-shof s ........ 74 

Indian Baskets ........... 76 

The //(7^M/('(';; Ascendii ^ ih. llu ?in . . . . . 78 

Map of Holland .80 

Purchasing Manhattan .......... 82 

Edict of William the Te^ty 84 

Haarkni, [loUand ........... 85 

New Amsterdam . . . . . . •. . . . .86 

A Scene ill Amsterdam, Holland ........ 87 

Map of New Netherlands 1656 88 

Goverror Stuyvesant .......... 90 

The Dock and River Eroi.t to Wall Street, 1667, and View of the 

" Schoeinge,"' 1658 ......... 92 

The Building of the Kesll ss ......... g6 

The City in 1642 ........... loi 

The Water Gale and Position of Original Wharf, fn m Map, 1061 . . no 

Soap Making . . . . . . . „ , . . • i>5 

Brooklyn Ferry . . , . . . . . , . .120 

4 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 5 

The Duke's Plan : New Amstenlam in 1664 . . . . . .122 

'I'he Stadhuys, or City Hall, of New York, 1679 ..... 125 

Indian \\'anipum . . . . . . . . . ^ .129 

(^l.l Dutch Windmill ,31 

Old Dutch Houses ..... i ^^ 

New York at the Beginninj^ i)f the I'.ighteenth Cei turv .... 136 

New "S'urk, 1695 ........... 140 

A South Truspect of Ye Floui-i-shing City of New York .... 146 

Old Jail 1^8 

Canal in Broad Street, 1659 . . . . . . . . .1:0 

Manetta \Yater . . . . . , . . . . . i S4 

Old Dutch Sleigh j 7c 

The Meal and the Slave Market, 1746, and the Battery in 1746 . . .180 

American Stage Coach . . , . . . . , . .184 

Trinity Church as Enlarged, 1737 ........ 186 

Trinity Church . . . . . . . . . . .188 

St. Paul's Church, 1850 . , . . . . . . , .194 

A Pirate . ........... 197 

Bowling Green in iSoo . . . , . . . . ^ -199 

The Battery and Bowling Creen ••...... 200 

King's Bridge, New York ••••..... 202 

Stone House, Kingsbridge Road ........ 204 



Hudson River from Hoboken 



205 



New York Colonial Currency . . . . . . . .210 

Spuy ten Duyvil of To-day . . . . . . . , .211 

New York and Brooklyn, with Their Environs, 1776 • . . . 216 

Fly Market . . . . . . , . . . . .218 

Bellin's Map ........... 226 

The Flying Machine .......... 228 

Aisle in St. Paul's, Showing Washington's Pew . . . . . 2'"o 

House in Which the Non-Im]iortation Agreement was Signed . . .251 

Old City Hall, Wall Street 216 




AX INDIAN VILLAGE. 

From i\f, fntjsh's " The Origin of the North American Indians." 



NEW YORK 

IN 

ABORIGINAL AND COLONIAL DAYS 




BRIGHT-EYES, THE INDIAN BOY. 

Many years ago there lived in what is now 
New York City, a little boy named Bright- 
Eyes, He had big, black eyes, straight, black 



8 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

hair and reddish-brown skin. He was an 
Indian. Only Red Men lived in our country 
in those days. 

When Bright - Eyes was a baby he was 
called a papoose. His mother did not put 
him into a cradle as your mother did you 
when you were little. She put him into a 
bag, fixed to a board nearly three feet long 
and about eighteen inches wide. When she 
had to cut wood or grind the corn for meals, 
little Bright -Eyes and his little bed were 
hung up in the nearest tree. There the wind 
rocked him and sang him to sleep with gentle 
lullabies. 

Bright-Eyes, with his father and mother, 
grandfather and grandmother, lived in a long 
bark hut. This hut had no windows and only 
one door. A hole in the roof was the only 
chimney. There were no beds such as we 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 9 

sleep on. The beds were evergreen boughs, 
covered with skins and furs. 

There were no streets in those days. The 
forests were as God had made them and w^ere 
all about where Bright-Eyes lived. His father 
could find his way through the woods as 
easily as you find your way in going home 
from school. When his father went hunting 
or fishing, he might be gone for days, for he 
had to bring home food for his family, and he 
sometimes had to go a long way to get game ; 
but he never lost his way. All his hunting 
had to be done on foot. Horses were not 
known to the Indian until the White Man 
brought them over. 

Bright-Eyes never cried. He was trained 
to keep quiet. Sometimes when he was fas- 
tened to his sleeping-board, his mother would 
loosen his arms. Then he would play with 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



11 



the bone toys tied to the wooden bow arched 
over his face and fastened to the board at each 
side. This was to protect his head and face 
should the board fall. When he grew old 
enough to walk, he was no longer put to bed 
on his sleeping-board. That was then put 
awa}', and he never used it again. 




When his mother went out to till the 
ground, or to gather wood for the fire, 
Bright-Eyes went with her and played about 
the spot where she was working. In the 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

spring he watched the birds and 
the squirrels, and listened to 
their calls. He learned to know 
the robin, the thrush, the black- 
bird, the blue jay, and the oriole. 
He loved the robin best of all. 

When he awoke at daybreak 
and went out into the woods, it 
was Robin Redbreast's morning 
song that said to him, " Fine 
day, fine day, Bright-Eyes ! " At 
twilight, when he went into the 
lodge to go to sleep, he could 
hear the robin singing to him, 



^y4^ -' Good-night, good-night, Bright- 



f'Tp'^^iM^^Q^ Eyes ! Sleep well ! Sleep well ! " 
i^^ -1 here was one bird he was 

^^^^ afraid of, though — the owl. At 




^§^ times during the night. Bright- 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 13 

Eyes would be wakened out of a sound sleep 
by the hooting of an owl. This would frighten 
him. His mother would tell him, then, in a 
low voice, so as not to waken any of the other 
sleepers, of the little Indian boy who was 
once carried away by an owl because he cried. 
Then Bright-Eyes, to show he was not afraid, 
would try to go to sleep again. 




Bright-Eyes was very proud when he was 
given his first pair of moccasins. These were 
made of deerskin, and were fastened up the 
front with deerskin thongs. He wore no 
stockings. There were no heels on his new 



14 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

shoes, as there are on yours. So, when he 
walked, his toes turned in. 

One day, to try his new moccasins, he took 
a walk by himself in the woods. He had not 
gone far, when he heard a rattle. This was a 
new sound to him. He stood still, as he had 
been taught to be very cautious. Looking 
about him, he saw in front of him, some little 
distance away, something waving a vicious 
looking head to and fro. 

Bright-Eyes was frightened, as he had never 
seen anything of this kind before. He heard 
another rattle. This time he turned and ran 
as fast as his little legs could carry him 
towards home. When he reached the lodge, 
he rushed up to his grandfather, who was sit- 
ting outside, and breathlessly told him his 
adventure. When he had finished, his grand- 
father told him the story of 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



15 




The Snake. 

In old times there 

-._,-...=_ _ was a tribe 

of Indians 

^' who were 

very saucy 

J^ri Theyoften 



talked too 

much, and said too little. Kuloskap, the Good 
Spirit, was very angry with them. But in his 
great love for all Indians, he told them when 
the Great Flood was coming, so that they 
might secure themselves against it. 

Instead of trying to save themselves, how- 
ever, they only laughed at him and said they 
did not care. Kuloskap told them the water 
would come over their heads. To this they 
replied that they would be very wet. He told 
them to be good and quiet, and to pray. They 



16 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

only shouted, and shook their rattles at him. 
These rattles were made of turtle-shells 
fastened together, with pebbles inside, and, 
when shaken hard, made a great noise. 

To show their contempt for Kuloskap, they 
had a great dance, shaking their rattles all the 
time. Then the rain began to fall ; but they 
kept on dancing. The thunder pealed. They 
yelled at the thunder, and shook their rattles 
at it. Then Kuloskap determined to punish 
them. He did not wish to see them drown in 
the flood, so he changed them into rattle- 
snakes. 

Thus the bad Indians became bad snakes. 
When they see an Indian coming, they lift up 
their heads, and move them to and fro — for 
that is the way snakes dance — and then they 
shake the rattles in their tails, as Indians 
shake their rattles when they dance. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



17 



So it was that Bright-Eyes learned about 
the bad snakes. 

One day, not long after, Bright-Eyes saw, in 
a nearby meadow, a lot of golden flowers, such 
as he had never seen before. He ran to the 
meadow and plucked some of the flowers, 
which he took to his grandfather, asking him 
what they were. His 
grandfather, instead 
of telling him the 
name directly, told 
him the story of 




The Dandelion. 

I am going to tell 
you of the sorrow of 
the South Wind. He is soft, and sweet, 
and gentle. He breathes upon us and soothes 
us. The fruits and flowers love him, for his 



18 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

breath is sweet to them. But alas ! he is 
very lazy. 

One day he looked toward the north and 
saw a dear little golden-haired girl dancing in 
a meadow. She seemed to nod and smile at 
him. He loved this little girl, and wished to 
have her near him. Every day he would say, 
" I will go to her some day and bring her to 
my home in South Land." 



-.^^^ 







But he waited too long, for on looking for 
her one day he saw his little Golden-Hair was 
changed. Her hair was no longer gold. It 
had been changed to silver. " Alas ! " sighed 
South Wind. " I have waited too long. My 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



19 



swift brother, North Wind, has sent his Frost 
Spirit to touch her with his wand." 

And when he looked again, the air seemed 
to be filled with soft, feathery stars. He 
looked and wondered. Next morning he 
looked north to find his little girl, but she had 
gone. ** Ah ! now I know that those little 
stars were frost spirits, come to take my little 
girl to my brother in North Land," said the 
South Wind. 

He never knew that it was little Miss Dan- 







20 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

delion growing in the meadow who had the 
golden locks, nor that the feathery stars were 
little seed wings. So he sighs and sighs for 
her always. 

The day after, Bright-Eyes took his grand- 
father to show him the dandelions. On their 
way, as they passed a stream, they frightened a 
bird which was nesting on the edge of the 
bank, and it tried to get into the water. It 
was very clumsy on land, but as soon as it 
reached the water it could swim and dive as no 
other bird Bright-Eyes had ever seen could do. 

"What is it. Grandfather?" said Bright- 
Eyes. 

"It is a diver," was the reply. "He is a 
small bird, though his cousin, called the loon, 
who lives where the Frost-spirit does, is larger." 

"Why are his feet so far behind?" was 
Bright-Eyes' next question. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 21 

His grandfather's reply was the story of 

How THE Loon Had His Legs Placed so 
Far Behind. 

Nanaboozho, a mischiev- 
ous spirit, was hungry, and 
as he was on the shores of 
a lake at the time, thought 
he would like some water- 
fowl for dinner. 

He called a council of 
the aquatic birds, saying 
he had an important secret 
to tell them. There came to his wigwam geese, 
ducks, herons, gulls, bitterns and a loon. He 
asked them in and told them they would have 
to be blindfolded and dance around in a circle, 
and after the dance was over he would tell 
them the secret. 




22 FOUR NKW YORK BOYS 

So he blindfolded them, and started them 
around. As the loon passed Nanaboozho he 
heard a peculiar sound as Ox^ some one gasp 
ing for breath. So, while going around again, 
he managed to get one eye free, and saw Nana- 
boozho grasp a wild goose by the leg, wring 
its neck and throw the body behind him. 

The loon told the goose who was dancing 
behind him what Nanaboozho was doing. The 
goose told the bird behind him, so that in turn 
everyone soon knew that Nanaboozho was try- 
ing to get something to eat, and that was his 
only secret. So the birds rushed out of the 
wigwam, after taking off their blindfolds, the 
loon being last. When Nanaboozho saw what 
was happening, he became very angry, rushed 
after the loon, and jumped on his back. Ever 
since the loon has had a flat back, and his 
legs grow at the end of his body so that he 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



23 



has never been able to walk as do other 
birds. 




So Bright-Eyes played about summer and 
winter, spring and fall, learning from his 
grandfather much about the birds and animals, 
trees and flowers. 

When he was six years old, his father began 
to take him out on little trips. One day in the 
summer Bright-Eyes went with his father to 
fish. Near where they lived was a good fish- 
ing-ground. It was low tide when they 
reached the shore. 

The father left his boy on the bank with the 



24 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



canoe whilst he went and got some sand- 
worms. After he had brought these back to 
the canoe, he waded to a shallow place, where 




INDIAN WEAPONS. 



After Catlin. 



he gathered some oysters. These he brought 
to shore and put in a cool spot under a tree. 
Then he told Bright-Eyes to gather some wood 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



25 



for a fire. When the wood was made ready, he 
started the fire by rapidly revolving a short 
stick in the hollow of a piece of dry wood, and 
putting the light, which he thus obtained, 




underneath the pile of wood. He cooked the 
oysters, and he and his son ate them, after 
which they divided a watermelon they had 
found growing nearby. 



26 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

After finishing their meal, the father made 
a drinking-cup out of birch bark from a nearby 
tree and took a drink out of a clear, cool spring 
near at hand. He also gave Bright-Eyes a 
drink. 

They were now ready to go fishing. The 
tide had risen, and the father easily slid 
the canoe into the water. Then he carefully 
placed his son in the bow. Finally he got 
into the stern with his paddle, and off they 
went. 

He paddled until he reached a good shady 
place to fish in, near the shore. Here he put 
the prow of his canoe on the bank, so that his 
boat would remain steady. He made his line 
ready. It was made from the sinews of the 
deer. His hook was made of bone. His 
sinker was a stone. He put a worm on his 
hook, and dropped it into the water. Bright- 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 27 

Eyes said nothing all this time. His father 
had told him to watch. 

Scarcely had the line gone overboard, than 
there was a tug at it. The father pulled in 
and landed a nice striped bass. Again he 
baited, and again he cast his line over. An- 
other tug, and another fish ; this time a 
blackfish. So he fished and fished until it 
was almost sunset — time for them to go 
home. 

Just as they were about to make ready to 
go home, there came a very heavy tug on the 
line. The father tried to pull the line in. It 
would not come at first ; it seemed as if the 
fish were stronger than the man. The fish 
pulled, and the man pulled. The man said 
" Ugh ! " but even that did not bring the fish 
in. The man said " Ugh ! " again, and pulled 
harder. This time the fish didn't come, but 



28 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



the line did ; and the man nearly tumbled out 
of the boat. 

Then Bright-Eyes spoke. He said, " Biggest 
fish got away, didn't he? " It has been so ever 
since. The biggest fish always gets away. 

Home they paddled. The mother was wait- 
ing for them. She took the fish and cooked 
them, just as they w^ere, in an earthen vessel 
placed over the fire burning in the middle of 
the floor of the lodge, and put some cakes, 
made of Indian meal, to cook in the hot ashes. 




FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 29 

When the meal was ready, the pot was 
taken from over the fire and placed on the 
floor, the cakes alongside it. The men and 
boys gathered around it, and sat down, each 
with a wooden bowl and a wooden spoon. 




INDIAN BOWLS. 



Each took out of the pot what he thought he 
needed, the oldest helping himself first, put it 
into his bowl, and began to eat. When they 
had finished, the women were permitted to eat, 
not before. 

Bright-Eyes was now old enough to learn 
how to use a bow and arrow. One day, in the 




INDIAN DRESS. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



31 



early summer, he went with his father into the 
woods. Here his father looked for a hickory 
sapling. When he found it, he cut off a 
straight piece with his stone hatchet. They 
took it home, where the father soon made it 




into a bow, scraping it with a piece of sharp 
stone. He strung it with deer sinew. The 
arrows he made from alder. One end of each 
was sharpened by burning, afterwards being 
rubbed to a point on a stone. 

Bright-Eyes was very proud of his bow and 
arrow, and practised with it all day long. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 33 

Soon he could hit a mark at twenty feet ; then 
at twenty-five feet. When he could do this, 
he took part with the other boys of the village 
in the 




Arrow Game. 

All the smaller boys, who were just learning 
to use the bow and arrow, gathered around one 
of the larger boys, in the centre of the village. 
Each, large and small, had his bow and arrow. 
The big boy would say " Ready ! " when each 
little fellow would fix an arrow to his bow. 
Then, when they were all ready, the big boy 
would shoot his arrow upward, and all the 
other boys would shoot theirs upward, too, 
trying to make their arrows go as high as his 



34 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

had gone. The one who did this the oftenest 
won the game. 

At first Bright-Eyes thought he would never 
win, as many of the other boys were bigger 
and stronger than he. But he kept on trying 
and trying. His muscles became harder and 
stronger, and in time he could use his bow as 
well as any of his comrades. 

Sometimes, after the arrow game, the boys 
played foot-ball. 

When Bright-Eyes became a good shot, he 
told his mother one day he would try to stop 
the chipmunks from stealing her corn. So he 
took his bow and arrow and went out to watch 
for the thieves. He watched all day until 
nearly sunset before he saw them. When he 
did catch sight of them, he shot an arrow 
at one and killed it. He picked it up and 
went home with it, where he showed it in 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



35 



great glee. His mother cooked it for his 
supper. 

After supper they sat around the fire, and 
his grandfather told the story of 

How THE Chipmunk was Marked. 




PORCUPINE. 



In old times the animals thought they would 
make a tribe and have a chief. They made 
the porcupine the chief, because nothing could 
hurt him. 

One day the chief sent word to all the tribe 



36 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



to meet him that night by the big oak tree for 
a talk. There came the bear, the beaver, the 
fox, the wild-cat, the wolf, the rabbit, the 
weasel, the raccoon, the squirrel, the skunk, 
the otter, the marten, the muskrat, the chip- 



''''fcji-'",,','' 'Xf 




munk, and the deer. They sat in a wide 
circle around a fire of logs, and waited for the 
porcupine to speak. When he saw all the 
tribe was there, he said : 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



37 



"Some of you have told me that there is not 
enough daylight for you ; others that there is 
not enough night. I have called you together 
to talk it over. Let Mr. Bear begin." 




The bear stood up and said he didn't want 
any daylight at all. What he wanted was 
night all the time, and so did his brothers, the 
wildcat, the wolf, the fox, the weasel, and the 
skunk. But the other animals wanted day- 
light, and said so. 

The bear kept grunting, " Night always, 



38 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

night always," while the others were talking, 
and the chipmunk kept chattering, " Light, 
light, light." This kept on for some time and 
before the animals knew it, dawn began to 
appear in the eastern sky. 

When the bear saw the morning breaking, 
he was very angry and ran to catch the chip- 
munk to punish him for calling " Light." 

The chipmunk saw the bear coming and ran 
for an oak tree with the bear after him. Just 
as the chipmunk reached the tree and sprang 
up the trunk, the bear reached forth his paw to 
catch the little chatterer. He was not near 
enough to catch Chippy, but two of the long 

nails in his paw struck 
Chippy in the back, and 
made the two stripes the 
little fellow has worn 
ever since. 




FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



39 






When it came time to 
garner the corn and to 
gather the pumpkins, 
Bright-Eyes helped his 
mother, as he was now big enough to be of use 
in gathering their crops. When the corn had all 
been gathered and the pumpkins safely stored 
for the winter, his grandfather told him the 
story, one evening, as they sat around the 
fire, of 

How Corn and Beans were Brought to 

THE Indians. 

When the Indians came to the earth the first 

bird they saw was the crow. He was not afraid 

of the Red Men, because they were good to him. 



40 



¥OUR NEW YOUK BOYS 



The Red Men had 
no corn nor beans. 
The crow thought 
and thought as to 
how he could return 
the many kindnesses 
of the Red Men. 
He said to himself 
one day, "Suppose I 
should get the seed 
of corn and beans for them? They would 
then have something to eat beside game and 
fish." 

He made up his mind to get the seed. So, 
one day, oft" he flew, far, far away to the south- 
west. Here lived the Spirit of the South 
Wind, a lazy, old man. The crow flew and 
flew until he saw the old man. Then he flew 
down to the feet of the old man and said to 




FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



41 



him. " Please give me one grain of corn and 
one bean." 

" For whom do you want them ? " said the 
South Wind. 

" For my friend, the Red Man. He has 
neither corn nor beans," was the reply. 

" Why do you wish to give them to the Red 
Man ? " said the South Wind. 

" Because he has been good to me," said the 
crow. 

The South Wind then gave the 
grain of corn and the bean to the 
crow, and told him how they should 
be planted to make them grow. 

The crow put the grain into one M\ 
ear and the bean into the other. 
Then he thanked the South Wind 
and away he flew. He flew and 
flew until he got back to his 




42 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



friends. He gave the two grains to the 
Indians and told them how they were to be 
planted. 

But the men v/ould not plant them. They 
were above that kind of work. The seed 
were given to the squaws to plant, and ever 
since they have done the planting and the 
harvesting. 

Sometimes the crow helps nowadays to 
gather the corn, because he 
claims that without him there 
would have been no corn to 
plant and therefore none to 
grow. 

Bright-Eyes had no school- 
house to go to. His school 
was all outdoors and his grand- 
father was his teacher. The 
first thing he was taught was 




FOUR NEW YUHK BOYS 



43 



respect for his elders. He was not permitted 
to join in their talks, nor could he speak in 
their presence unless asked to do so. 




When Bright-Eyes came from the woods his 
grandfather would say to him, " What new 
birds have you seen to-day ? " On which side 
of the tree does the moss grow?" "What 
bushes grow near the water?" Other days he 
would ask questions about the rabbit, or the 
beaver, or the otter, and thus find out what his 
grandson was learning. And Grandfather, 
when Bright-Eyes answered well, would tell 



44 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

him stories of the animals and birds. Here 
are some of them : 




The Owl and the Raven. 
The owl and the raven were fast friends. 
One day the raven made a new dress, dappled 
white and black, for the owl, who in return 
made a pair of moccasins for the raven, and 
also began to make a white coat for him. But 
when it was time to try it on, the raven kept 
hopping about and would not stand still. The 
owl got angry and said: "Now stand still or 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 45 

I shall pour out the lamp over you." As the 
raven continued hopping about, the owl fell 
into a passion and poured the oil upon him. 
Then the raven cried "Caw! Caw!" and since 
that day has been black all over. 




The Rabbit and the Otter. 

Once there was a very cold, hard winter, and 
the Rabbit, who lived with his grandmother, 
had hard work to get even a little food for his 
family. Snow and ice were everywhere, and go 
where he would he could find but little to eat. 

One day, while going through the forest, he 



46 FOUR NEW YORK ROYS 

came to a river on the bank of which stood a 
lonely lodge. Going up to it and looking 
inside, he saw the Otter. The Otter saw him 
at the same time and asked Rabbit to enter 
and to stay for dinner. Master Rabbit was 
very glad to accept. 




No sooner had Rabbit been welcomed than 
Otter told his housekeeper to prepare the 
fire, while he would go down to the river to 
catch some fish. 

Down he slid, Master Rabbit watching him, 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 47 

and dove into the water through a hole in the 
ice. Soon he re-appeared from under the ice 
with a mess of fish, which he gave to the 
housekeeper to prepare for dinner. These 
were soon cooked and eaten. 




After dinner they chatted awhile, but all the 
time Master Rabbit was thinking that what 
Otter could do, he could do. When they had 
finished their chat, Master Rabbit arose to go 
home, and in bidding his host " Goodbye," 
asked him to be his guest the following day. 
Otter accepted the invitation. 

When Master Rabbit reached home, he said 



48 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

to his grandmother, " Let us move our wigwam 
nearer the water." They moved their lodge to 
the edge of the lake, and Master Rabbit made 
a smooth, icy path, on which he could slide 
down from the wigwam to the water. 

Next day, when Otter called. Master Rabbit 
said to his grandmother, "Get dinner ready." 

His grandmother said, " With what, Grand- 
son ? " 

Master Rabbit said, '* I'll see to that," and 
started to slide down the smooth path he had 
made, so that he might reach the water and 
catch fish as did the Otter. Not knowing how 
to guide himself, he slid this way and that, 
and finally, just before reaching the lake, he 
turned completely around and fell tail first into 
the icy water through an air hole. 

What was he to do ! He did not know how 
to swim. He gasped for breath, struggled and 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



49 



was nearly drowned. All thought of fishing 
had left his head. What he wanted was to get 
ashore. 

Otter, by the wigwam, had noticed Master 
Rabbit was trying to do something, but what 
it was he could not make out, so he said to 
the grandmother standing beside him, "What 
ails your grandson ? " 

" It looks to me," said the grandmother, " as 
if he had seen somebody do that, and that he 
is trying to do the same." 




A light broke in on the Otter. He slid 
quickly down to where Master Rabbit was 
struggling in the water and helped poor Bunny 
out. Master Rabbit, shivering, limped into the 



50 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

wigwam to be nursed by his grandmother, 
while Otter slid into the water and soon came 
up with a string of fish. But, disgusted with 
Master Rabbit for attempting what he could 
not perform, he threw the fish on the ground in 
front of the wigwam and went home without 
dining. 

Master Rabbit and the Woodpecker 
Girls. 

After Master Rabbit got well, he was wan- 
dering one day in the woods. 

As he was walking along, he came to a 
wigwam, in which was a number of young 
women, all with red head-dresses — the Misses 
Woodpecker. Seeing him, the young ladies 
asked him to come in and have dinner with 
them. Master Rabbit, well pleased with the 
invitation, assented. 

One of the girls, taking a wooden dish, ran 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



51 



up the trunk of the 
nearest tree. She 
stopped now and 
then, and, tapping 
at the bark, took 
from here and there, 
little white insects. 
These she brought 
down, and, soon after, 
they were served for 
dinner. Master Rabbit put on his thinking- 
cap again, just as he had done after dining 
with Otter. 

" That's the easiest way in the world to get 
a dinner," he said to himself. " I'll have to 
try it." 

On bidding farewell to the ladies, he thanked 
them for their hospitality, asked them to dine 
with him next day ; and it was so arranged. 




52 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



Next day, when the young ladies appeared, 
Master Rabbit began to play woodpecker. He 
took a piece of sharpened wood, and fastened 
it on his nose for a bill. Then he started to 
climb the trunk of the nearest tree, and sad 
work he made of that. He pecked and 
pecked at the bark with his home-made bill, 
but no insects did he get. He soon resem- 
bled the woodpeckers in one thing — he had 

a red crest, for his head 
was cut by his home- 
made bill, and the blood 
ran down over his eyes. 
" What is he trying 
to do?" said the Wood- 
pecker ladies. 

" It looks to me," said 
his grandmother, "as if 
he had seen somebody 




FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



53 



do that, and that he is trying to do the 
same." 

The Woodpeckers laughed at his plight, 
and one of them said, " Come down and give 
me your dish." 

He did so, and she ran up the trunk with it, 
and soon came down with the dinner. But it 
was a long time before Master Rabbit heard 
the last of his trying to play woodpecker. 




The Martp:n and the Rabbit. 

One day Master Rabbit and Marten sat 
next each other at a dmner given by Wolf. 



54 



FOUR NEW YORK ROYS 



Master Rabbit was putting on airs, trying to 
show he was used to better society than that 
around him, and was accustomed to living 
among great people. 

Master Rabbit smoothed down his white 
fur, and said to Marten, " This is the only 
kind of coat worn by aristocrats." Marten had 
on a brown coat. 

Marten quietly asked, " If that be so, how 
did you come by it ? " 

" It shows," said Master Rabbit, " that I 
always associate with gentlemen." 

" How did you get that slit in your lip?" 

asked Marten, 

a^^^ j^^^^^\^ who knew very 

';x j^'-^-^^^ well that Mas- 

**^^ ; ter Rabbit was 

I^^S^^ drawing the 

long bow. 




FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 55 

"Ah!" replied Master Rabbit, "in my home 
we use knives and forks. One day, my knife 
slipped and I cut my lip." 

" And why are your mouth and whiskers 
always going, even when you are still?" 

"I am thinking; planning great affairs; 
always worrying. So I am always talking to 
myself, you see." 

" But why do you always hop ? Why don't 
you walk, as other people do ? " 

" Ah ! that's our style. We city folks are 
different from the country people. We have 
our own way of getting over the ground." 

Another story Bright-Eyes liked was that of 

Thp: King Fisher. 

The Kimr Fisher had two brothers, Crane 
and Wolf. 

Crane was very lazy, and would do nothing 



66 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

unless he had to. One 
day he was very hungry, 
and, being too lazy to 
cook dinner, he went to 
see his brother Wolf 
S "just at d i n n e r- 1 i m e. 
5?2^V; ; ^Volf was polite, and 
■'/tpi'S'i asked Crane to dinner. 
So they sat down when 
dinner was ready. All 
they had was soup, served in a broad, flat 
dish. Crane's bill was so long he could get 
but little of the soup ; but Wolf had no 
trouble in lapping up all he wanted. 

Not to be outdone in politenes^^, Crane 
asked Wolf to sup with him next day. Wolf 
came at the appointed time, and they sat down 
to supper. The meal was only soup. It was 
a very nice soup, and was placed on the table 




::i^i 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



57 



in a long--neckc(l pitcher. Poor Wolf could 
get none at all, while Crane, with his long" bill, 
had no trouble in getting his fill 




A few days after, Wolf and Crane went to 
breakfast with King Fisher. King Fisher, it 
being early in the morning, had no food on 
hand, so he said, " Please wait until I catch 
our breakfast." 

They watched him as he ran out on the 
bough of a tree overspreading a stream. It 
was not long before he spied a fish in the 



58 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



water. Quickly 
reaching down, he 
caught the fish. He 
brought it to the 
ground, had it 
cooked, and they 
were soon at break- 
fast. 

When Wolf saw 
how easily Blue Jay 
had caught the fish, he said to himself, " That 
is a very easy thing to do, and I am going 
to do it." ■ 

After breakfast. Wolf asked his two brothers 
to sup with him next day. When they came, 
to show how smart he was, he ran down to 
the shore, and out on a tree, leaning over the 
river, as he had seen Blue Jay do, to watch for 
a fish. He saw one, reached out for it, over- 




FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 69 

balanced, fell into the river, and was swept 
away. 

So much for trying to do things we do not 
know how to do. 




When Bright-Eyes was old enough, his 
father made him a canoe and a paddle. But 
he would not let him use it until he learned to 
swim. His father taught him how, and when 
he could swim like a frog, he was told to get 
into his canoe and paddle it. 

He got into his canoe, but he didn't paddle 
it. He was not careful enough, so the canoe 
turned over with him, and into the water he 
went. When he came up, he swam to his 
boat, turned it right side up, and got in. But 
though he tried hard, he could not make it go 



60 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



straight. It went first one way and then 
another, so he gave it up for the day and 
walked home. 

He told his grandfather his experiences, and 
his grandfather told him the story of. 

The Partridge and 
THE Canoe. 



In the old days 
the Partridge was 
the canoe builder for 
all the birds. 

When he had fin- 
ished the canoes, the 




-■'* •* 



birds came together to try them. First ap- 
peared the eagle. He got into his canoe and 
paddled off, using the ends of his wings as 
paddles. Then came the owl, doing the same, 
and after him, the heron, the blue jay, the 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



61 



snipe, and the crow 
went sailing proudly 
by. Even the tiny 
h u n J m i n g-bi rd h a d 
a little canoe, wiiich 
he was propelling 
with a little paddle 
hardly an inch lono-. 
Bat there was no 
boat for the builder. 
When he was asked 
why, he was silent at first and answered only 
by shaking his head. After much questioning, 
he finally told them that he was going to build 
a canoe for himself such as no bird's eye had 
ever seen. It would be a marvel. 

And the Partridge built his boat in this wise: 
He reasoned that if a boat having two ends 
could be paddled in two directions, backward 




BLUE JAY. 



62 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



and frontward, one which was all ends — all 
round — could be paddled backwards, front- 
wards, sideways, and every other way. So 
he made him a boat in shape like his nest, 
and sent for the birds to come to see him 
sail it. 

They all came, and when they saw the new 
canoe they wondered that they had never 
thought of such a 
thing as building a 
circular boat. But 
what was their aston- 
ishment to find that 
when Partridge en- 
tered his canoe and 
started to paddle, his 
boat would not go 
ahead at all ! It just 
turned around and 




FOUR NEW YORK HOYS 



63 



around! Try as he would he could not make 
it go any other way. So he went ashore and 
flying far inland hid himself under the low 
bushes, where he yet remains. 




Bright-Eyes said nothing after the story was 
finished, but made up his mind that he would 
learn to paddle very soon. Next morning, 
bright and early, he was out on the water with 
his canoe and paddle. He worked and worked, 
but he could not make the boat go straight 
ahead. Suddenly, however, he caught the trick 
of turning the wrist of the hand near the blade 
so as to keep the canoe in a straight course. 




iil(:fiZ5S<ZJ 



INDIAN' MEDICINE BAG, MYSTERY WHISTLE, RATTLES AND DRUM After CatUn. 



FOUll NEW YORK BOYS 



65 



Then he started for home to tell his grandfather 
that he could paddle. 

Just as he reached home, a very severe 
thunder storm came up. While he was telling 
his story the thunder roared and the lightning 
flashed as Bright-Eyes had never seen it do 
before. When he had finished, his grand- 
father praised him for his hard work in learn- 
ing to paddle, and. as a reward told him the 
story of 




The Thunder Men. 

Once an Indian while out hunting was 
caught in a severe thunder storm. The roar- 
ing wind whirled him up and set him down in 



66 FOUR NEW yOKK BOYS 

the village of Thunders, up in the sky. There 
he saw a number of people who looked like 
men, but who wore wings that could be taken 
off and laid aside. 

The Great Chief of the Thunders, hearing of 
the stranger's arrival, sent for him and asked 
him to become one of them. This he consented 
to do. 

They put him into a large cave, and in a 
little while he lost his senses. When he awoke 
he was a Thunder. They brought him a pair 
of wings and he put them on. He flew about 
as did his fellows and followed all their ways. 

They always flew toward the south looking 
for a big bird which they wished to kill, but 
they never succeeded in doing so. As they 
flew the motion of their wings made a great 
roar, and this was thunder. To amuse them- 
selves they played ball across the sky. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 67 

This went on for a long time. Then the 
Indian began to tire of his new friends. He 
told the Chief he \\'ished to go to his family on 
earth. The Chief was very kind. He told his 
people that their new brother was very lone- 
some and wished to return to his family. 
They were sorry to lose him, but they loved 
him so much they decided to make him happy 
by returning him to earth. 

One day, the Indians saw a great thunder 
storm draw near. While the thunder was 
rumbling overhead they saw something in 
the shape of a human being coming down 
with the lightning. They ran to the spot 
where it came down, and there was their 
long-lost brother, who had been gone many 
years. 

Then his grandfather the next day would 
tell him the story of 



68 FOUK NEW YORK BOYS 

The Sun and Moon. 

A long time ago 
there was a mighty 
medicine man who 
gained so much power 
that he at last was 
able to raise himself 
to the heavens, taking 
with him his sister, a 
l)eautiful girl, and a 
fire. To the fire he 
added great quantities 
of fuel, which thus fornied the sun. 

He and his sister lived very happily for 
some time, but one day they disagreed, and in 
anger he scorched the side of her face with 
the fire. She ran away from him and became 
the moon, and so continues till this day. Her 
brother is still in chase of her, but although 




FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



69 



he gets near, he never overtakes her. When 
it is new moon, the burnt side of her face is 
towards us; when it is full moon, the reverse 
is the case. 

Seeing that Bright-Eyes became more and 
more interested in the heavens, his grand- 
father one evening told him the story of the 
great darkness, or 

How THE Mole was Made Blind. 






mr 







In the old days the sun punished a boy 
named Shooter-of-Birds, who was needlessly 
killing song birds, by burning his fine coat 
made of the feathers of birds killed by him. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



The boy was angry at the sun and tried to 
shoot it. But he found he could not make 
his arrows go so far. The sun smiled as the 
boy tried to shoot him, and this made Shooter- 
of-Birds more angry. " You'll be sorry," he 
said to the sun, and went into the wood to 
think over a plan by which he could punish 
the sun. He thought and thought, and finally 
said, •* I have it. I'll catch the sun in a 
trap." 

So that night he made a large, strong trap. 
In the morning he crept up into the sky, set it 
in the track of the sun, and tied it with a great 
cord to a mountain top. 

The sun fell into the trap. " Who has done 
this? " he cried. 

" I did," shouted Shooter-of-Birds, " and I 
am going to keep you there forever." 

As there was no sun, it soon began to get 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 71 

cold and dark on the earth, and as day after 
day passed, there was no rain, the flowers 
began to die, the grass turned from green 
to brown, the leaves fell from the trees, and 
the corn would not grow; and no corn meant 
starvation to the red men. All this time 
Shooter-of-Birds would not tell what was the 
matter, although he heard on all sides the 
question, " Where is the sun ? " 

And the animals grew fearful and were 
called together in council by the Porcupine. 
All were there around the council fire, large 
and small. They talked over what was best 
to do, and they decided to go in a body to try 
to find out what had become of the sun. Off 
they started, the Porcupine in the lead, fol- 
lowed by the bear, the beaver, the fox, the 
wild-cat, the wolf, the rabbit, the weasel, the 
raccoon, the squirrel, the skunk, the otter, the 




72 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

fisher, the marten, the muskrat, the chipmunk, 
the deer, and the mole. 

They walked and 
walked for many 
days, with no sign 
of the sun. And 
one day the bear 
suddenly said, " It's 
no use. I'm so hungry, I'll eat all of you," 
and when the wolf heard this, he said he, too, 
was hungry. 

And the small animals, hearing these two, 
were afraid, and ran away; and those who 
were left said, ** It is no use going any 
farther," and down they sat, all except the 
mole. 

But the little mole crept on. " For," said he, 
"everybody and everything will die without 
the sun ; I must find it." He crept on and 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 73 

on, day after day, until one morning he saw a 
faint light in the distance. " Perhaps that is 
the sun," he said to himself, and he hastened 
forward. 

And when he got to the trap he saw how 
the sun was caught. 

" If you could only break the cord," said the 
sun, " that would open the trap, and I could 
then look on the earth once more." 

" I will try," said the brave little fellow, and 
at the cord he went with his little teeth. He 
was so close to the sun that it seemed as if he 
would burn up. But he gnawed and gnawed 
at the cord, though it seemed as if his eyes 
would be burned out of his head, until at last 
the cord broke, the trap flew open and the sun 
went on his course. 

But the brave little mole has been blind 
ever since. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 75 

The next winter Bright-Eyes was given a 
pair of snow-shoes by his father. The first 
time he put them on and tried to walk, he 
came to grief. He tripped and fell face down- 
ward on the snow. Try as he would, he could 
not get up. He did not know that snow-shoes 
are so long and wide that it is impossible for 
one who is wearing a pair to get up alone if he 
has fallen, unless he unlaces the shoe. So he 
tried and tried, but all he succeeded in doing 
was to rub his nose in the snow. 

Just then his grandfather came along, and 
lifting him up, stood him on his feet. He told 
his grandson, then, to push along, not to try to 
walk. 

Bright-Eyes did as he was told and soon 
mastered the trick of using the snow-shoes. 
Soon he could get over the snow very rapidly, 
and then he had great fun going out with his 



76 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



father to trap beaver and otter, and quail, and 
partridge. 

Winter and summer came and went, until 
Bright-Eyes was old enough to help his father 
supply the food for the family. His arrows 




INDIAN BASKETS. 



were replaced with those that were tipped with 
sharp stones. With these he could easily kill 
wild geese and wild ducks, which were very 
plentiful ; and at times he would go deer- 
stalking with his father, generally with success, 
as he was a good shot and possessed the 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



77 



patience necessary for a good hunter. Thus 
the larder was always plentifully supplied. 




After Bright-Eyes had killed his first deer, 
he was permitted to smoke with his father 
and grandfather in the lodge at night when 
they came home from hunting. Tobacco was 
the only plant raised by the men. It was too 
valuable, they thought, to be entrusted to the 
squaws. 

Bright-Eyes was now permitted to join in 
the dances of the tribe. In these dances only 
the men took part. As a rule a dance would 
last all day and was very exhausting. The 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



only music came from a drum made from a 
hollow log over which was stretched a piece 
of deer hide. To this monotonous sound they 




THE "half moon" ASCENDING THE HUDSON. Fro7ii an old print. 

marched in a circle, increasing their speed as 
the drummer increased his strokes. Occasion- 
ally, they would face inward, always keeping up 
the sort of hopping which they call dancing. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 79 

One day in September, 1609, while Bright- 
Eyes and his father were out in their canoes 
fishing", they saw a strange sight. It was a 
Ijoat such as they had never seen before — the 
Half-Moon, with Henry Hudson in command, 
all sails set, going up the North River. It was 
the beginning of the end for the Red Man. 



HANS, THE DUTCH BOY. 

Hans was born in 
Haarlem, a city in 
Holland, in 1654. His 
father was a merchant, 
who, desirous of better- 
ing his condition, had 
made up his mind to 
emigrate to New Am- 
sterdam, now the Bor- 
ough of Manhattan. 

New Amsterdam, at 
this time, had been 
under the control of the Dutch for nearly half 
a century. From the time the first settle- 
ment was made by them, in 161 3, on these 
shores, glowing accounts had been sent home 




81 




PURCHASING MANHATTAN, 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 83 

as to the fertility of the soil, the cheapness of 
the furs which were obtained by barter from 
the Indians, and of the great importance of 
the new settlement as a trading centre. 

In 1626, Peter Minuit, the first Director- 
General of New Netherland,* arrived in New 
Amsterdam, the principal settlement in New 
Netherland. At this time, he bought from the 
Indians Manhattan, an island about fifteen 
miles long and from one-half to two miles 
wide, containing about twenty-two thousand 
acres, for the value of sixty guilders in beads 
and ribbons. The value of sixty guilders is 
twenty-four gold dollars ; but as the purchasing 
power of gold was five times as great then as it 
is now, the Indians really received the value of 
one hundred and twenty dollars of our day. 

* The country lying between the South (Delaware) 
River and the North (Hudson) River. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 85 

The second Director-General, Wouter Van 
Twiller, purchased from the Indians a part of 
Long Island ; while William Kieft, the third 











- 


■<- 




^^^^^^K ;: 


■■ 


■__■*' 




1 




^^^Hr ';' 


H 


■t^^^l^^^^l 




■ 




^i 


1 




F^ O 


■ 



HAARLEM, HOLLAND. FrS)!! ilH old print. 



Director-General, bought from the Indians all 
the land comprised in the present boroughs of 
Brooklyn and Queens, not already in posses- 
sion of the Dutch. Staten Island had also 
been bought in the same way. The Dutch 



86 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



were always careful to pay the Indians for any 
land bought from them. 

Hans' father, with other men f"rom Holland, 
set sail for the new world, bringing their 
families and all their household goods with 




NEW AMSTERDAM. 



them. It took them four months to sail from 
the city of Amsterdam in Holland, the point of 
departure, to the village of New Amsterdam 
in America, where some of the immigrants 
settled, the rest going on to Long Island. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 87 

But how different it was from their old 
home! There, was a rich, populous city, its 
many streets well built up. Here, was a little 
settlement with but seventeen streets and few 
houses. There, there was no danger from 




A SCENE IN' AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND. 



hostile savages. Here, the settlers had to be 
ready at all times to protect themselves from 
an attack by the Red Men. There, there 
were no wild animals. Here, at their very 
door, to the north of them, stood the primeval 



A o V A B 







MAP OF NEW NETHERLANDSj 1656. (WITH A VIEW OF NEW AMSTERDAM.) 



rOIIR NEW YOKK BOYS 89 

forest, from whose protecting shelter at night 
could be heard the growling of bears, the wail- 
ing of wild-cats, and the yelping of wolves. 

You may be sure our little Hans took but 
little note of all this. He lay in his cradle, 
kicking his heels, and cooing at his mother as 
she went about her household affairs. His 
cradle was not such an one as is used now-a- 
days. It was made of solid oak, wdth a sort of 
roof at the head end, to protect Hans from 
drafts, and also to shield the' light from his 
eyes. When he was older, he was given a 
little trundle bed, on which he slept, lying on a 
feather mattress, while over him was another 
feather mattress of lighter w^eight. This 
trundle bed was a low bedstead on rollers, 
which, when not in use, was rolled underneath 
his parents' high bedstead, being then hidden 
from view by the valance. 




GOVERNOR STUYVESANT. 



FOUR NP:W YORK BOYS 



91 



When Hans was old enough, his father 
used to take him out for a walk every after- 
noon. Sometimes they would go to the Fort, 
inside of which were the Governor's house, the 




THE GOVERNOR S HOUSE AND CHURCH, IN THE FORT. 

barracks, the jail, the church, and three grist 
mills. Here little Hans liked to sit on the 
grass, and gaze at the slowly revolving arms 
of the mills, wondering what they were doing. 
At other times, they would walk down by 



(•-^ 






'III, ^' 






Uf 



THE DOCK AND RIVER FRONT TO WALL STREET, 1667. 







[| 'U.,L-^ to ^,^ Wj] 



|j^\T^l^^t5^''j| 




VIEW OF THE "SCHOEINGE," OR STREET PILING, ON THE EAST RIVER SHORE, 
NEAR PRESENT COENTIES SLIP, 1658. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



'J 3 



the canal and watch the ships sailing to 
and fro. 

When they reached home, little Hans always 
told his mother what he had seen: The 
Indians, with packs of beaver skins on their 
backs, which they were bringing in to barter ; 




F>-oin an old engraving inaiie in Hollattd. 

FORT AMSTERDAM, FINISHED BY GOVERNOR VAN TWILLEK IN 1635. 

the couples on horseback, the woman riding 
on a pillion behind the man ; the ox-teams ; 
the fat cattle driven to the market that was 
held outside the Fort at stated intervals ; the 
chimney - sweeps, little colored boys, who 



94 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

climbed up the stepped roofs to reach the 
wide-mouthed chimneys ; the slaves, carrying 
home purchases for their masters ; the gibbet ; 
the stocks ; the soldiers, with their bright uni- 
forms ; the hogs, rooting in the unpaved 
streets ; the geese, paddling homeward from 
the shore; and the cowherd bringing home the 
settlers' cows from the common pasture. 

At supper-time they would sit down to a 
good Dutch supper, at which there was always 
plenty of suppawn. This was a porridge, made 
of ground Turkie-wheat (Indian corn) and milk. 

And this kitchen ! Very different was it 
from the kitchen of to-day. On one side was 
the great fire-place, so big, that, as one traveler 
says, "you could drive a horse and cart through 
it." Beside it was the great brick oven, and 
on the other side of the room stood the 
dresser, with a brave display of pewter plate 



FOUR NEW YORK BOVS 



95 



and blue crockery. The floor was covered 
with sand, wrought into curious patterns with 
a broom by one of the female slaves. 




— '""■*"'^iij»" 



After supper, in the summer-time, the family 
would go out on the stoop, while the female 
slaves cleaned up the kitchen. Here the father 
would smoke his home-grown tobacco, the 
mother would knit, and Hans would play 
about with the neighbors' children. Friends 
would stop to have a chat, and talk over the 
prospects of trade, and to gossip about old 



FOUR NEW YORK BUYS O7 

times in Holland, of brave Block, and his 
building- of the " Restless," the first ship built 
in New Amsterdam, or the danger of attacks 
from the Indians. 



THIS TAULET .MARKS THE SITE ()E THE 
EH^Sr HAHITATIONS < )E WHITE MEN- 
UN THE ISLAND OE ^LWHATTAN 

ADRIAN BLOCK 

COMMANDER OE THE TIUER 

EREC'IED HERE EoLR HUUSES UR HUTS 

NuVE.\HiER 161 3 

HE ISLMET THE RESTLESS THE FIRST VESSEL 

MADE 13V EL'RUPEANS IN THIS COUNTRY. 

THE RESTLESS WAS LAUNCHED 

IN THE SPRING OF 1614. 

THIS TABLET IS PLACED HERE PV 

THE HOLLAND SOCIETY UE NEW YORK 

SEPTEMBER 189O. 



TABLET AT 4I UROADWAV, ERECTED BV THE HOLLAND SOCIETY OF NEW \0KK;. 



'jS 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 




When the talk was about Indians, Hans 
always stopped playing, and came to his father 
to sit on his knee and listen. Sometimes it 
would be the story of the Pavonia massacre 
( 1643), when the soldiers, acting under orders 
from Kieft, who was strongly advised by the 
leading men in the colony against it, brutally 
murdered the unresisting Indians. 

Then a neighbor would tell of the successful 
efforts of Stuyvesant, the fourth, last, and best 
of the Directors-General, to keep the Indians 
peaceful, until 1655. In this year, when he 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 99 

was away with the troops at New Sweden on 
the South River, driving away the Swedes 
who had settled there, two thousand Indians 
swarmed into New Amsterdam early one Sep- 
tember morning. 

A few days before, an Indian girl, who had 
been seen stealing peaches from Van Dyck's 
orchard, which was situated just below where 
Trinity Church now stands, was seen, shot, 
and killed by him. As soon as her tribe heard 
of it, they were wild for revenge, and induced 
other tribes to join them in seeking it. How- 
ever, they were induced by the officials to leave 
the settlement. But they went only as far as 
Nutten (Governor's) Island, and at dark came 
back. They were determined to have revenge 
for the killing of the Indian girl. When they 
came back, they ran up to Van Dyck's house, 
and killed him. Then they went to Jersey and 

LOFC. 



100 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



Staten Island, and murdered many more, and 
destroyed many plantations. 

Hans always dreanied of Indians after hear- 



ing these gruesome tales. 




DUTCH COTTAGE IN NEW YORK', 1679. I'alentine s Maminl . 



Sometimes their neighbor, Jacob Steendam, 
would stop for a chat. He was a poet, and he 
was always welcome when he made a visit, for 
many of the settlers knew his collection of 
poems, " The Thistle-Finch." 



FOUR NP:W YORK BOYS 



101 



Hans liked this poet the best of all their 
visitors, for he had story after story to tell of 




his plantation on Long Island — of the wild 
turkeys, ducks, and geese he had seen crossing 
the rowboat ferry on coming back to his town 
house ; of the eagle he had seen flying far 



102 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

overhead ; of the flying-squirrels he had seen 
leaping through the air. Then he taught to 
Hans his poem on the Dutch fire-place, ending 



" Whose genial flame yields to no damp nor cold, 
'hose odors fragran 
In fields of Eden." 



Whose odors fragrant are as those of old 



As it neared bedtime, the neighbors would 
go home, and Hans with his father and mother 
went indoors. His father would fasten to the 
upper half of the front door, which had been 
left open for the ingress of air, the lower half 
being closed, and then go into the kitchen 
where he would find Hans with his night-clothes 
on ready for his game of trip-trop. His father 
would sit down, cross his legs and with Hans 
astride of his foot holding on to his hands, 
would swing him up and down, singing: 

" The father's knee a throne is, 
As the pigs are in the beans, 



FOUR NEW YOKK BOYS 103 

As the cows are in the clover, 
As the horses are in the oats, 
As the ducks are in the water, 
So y^reat my little Hans is." 

Here is the Dutch of it. Try to say it : 

" Trip a trop a tronjes, 
De varkens in de boonjes, 
De koejes in de klaver, 
De paarden in de haver, 
De eenjes in de waterplass. 
So groot myn kleine Hans was." 

Then to bed. And as our little boy sank 
into sleep, he could hear the rattle-watch calling, 
" Nine o'clock. A fair night," as he marched 
through the street with his staff, hour-glass, 
and lighted lanthorn, occasionally springing 
his rattle to let the people know he was at- 
tending to business. 

Early in the morning, Hans would be wak- 
ened by loud blasts from the horn sounded by 



104 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



the cow-herd, who was collecting the cattle to 
drive them out to the common pasture-field 
(now City Hall Park), where the cows were 
kept until just before sun-down, when they 
were driven home to their owners. 




GOVERNOR STUYVESANT'S HOUSE, ERECTED 1638. 

When winter came, Hans had his sled and 
skates. And how he did enjoy them ! He 
and his playmates would take their sleds to a 
place near the Fort, and here they would race 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



105 



4 


^ 




iHlf ■ 


P 




■ ',■ -. 


- i^-Z--"- 





THE Dl'TCH ROLI . 



down hill, each doin^" his 
best to guide his sled to 
the bottom first. Or they 
would go to a nearby pond, 
when the ice was STOod, and 
learn the " Dutch Roll " or 
the "Inside" or "Outside 
Edge." 

Tired and hungry after an afternoon's fun, 
they would go home to supper, and after supper 
each family would gather around the open fire. 
In the back of the fire-place was a hickory log 
so big that it had taken two men to bring it 
in from the woodpile and put it in place. And 
as the flames leaped and played in the cavern- 
ous fire-place, they showed the scriptural scenes 
on the tiling about it. 

Here the father smoked, and the mother 
knitted or spun, while Hans listened to the 



106 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



Stories which the slaves, gathered in one corner 
close by the fire, were telling. 

When bed-time came, the fire was covered 
with ashes. It was never allowed to go out. 
Then Hans' mother filled a warming-pan with 
hot coals, and thrusting it between the ice-cold 
sheets of his little trundle-bed, soon had that 
ready for him. Hans was ready for it, and 
with the sound of "taps" from the Fort he was 
off to dreamland. 




When December came, Hans was on the 
lookout for Santa Claus. In those days he 
c;ime on the sixth of December, not on the 



FOUR NEW YOKK BOYS 1U7 

twenty- fifth. Here is the song Hans learned, 
that he might sing it to St. Nicholas : 

" Saint Nicholas, good, holy man, 
Put your best Tabard on you can. 
And in it go to Amsterdam ; 
From Amsterdam to Hispanje, 
Where apples bright of Oranje, 
And likewise these pomegranates named. 
Roll through the streets still un-reclaimed. 

'• Saint Nicholas, my dear, good friend, 
To serve you ever was my end ; 
If you me now something will give, 
Serve you I will as long as I live." 

Bright and early, on the morning of the 
sixth of December, Hans got up and rushed 
down to the parlor. This room was opened 
only on holidays, or for funerals, or weddings. 
He was anxious to see what St. Nicholas had 
brought him. You must remember that in 
those days Santa Claus had no trouble in get- 



108 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

ting down the chimneys, as they were all very 
large. Here is what Hans saw: Near the 
great guest-bed, in one corner, stood a beauti- 
ful fir tree, with all sorts of presents upon it. 
Here were several pairs of new stockings 
which his mother had knitted from the wool 
from their own sheep. There were a pair of 
gloves and a comforter for his neck. In 
another place was a pair of skates from Hol- 
land. At every turn of his head he saw some- 
thing new — candy, cake, or toy. He was so 
excited that he almost missed what was at the 
bottom of the tree — a drum and a sword, and, 
nearby, standing on the sanded floor, was a 
great hobby-horse, covered with real horse- 
skin. He dropped everything else when he 
saw these. Beating his drum, he soon had the 
household awakened and around him. Then, 
mounting his horse, and waving his sword, he 



FOUR NEAV YORK BOYS lOi) 

showed them what a brave warrior he was 
going to be when he grew up. 

On Christmas Day, he w^ent out with his 
father to see the young men shoot at turkeys. 
On their way, every one whom they met said, 
" Merry Christmas ! " to which Hans and his 
father replied, " Merry Christmas ! " 




At this time there was a palisade, or wooden 
wall, extending across the island, over what is 
now known as Wall Street. This was for 




THE WATER GATE. Vale>iizHe's Manual. 




TBLOCK 

Thouse 



BV R G^E RSBA7TERYI0GUN S-^-^^'-r'^s^H ALf;j^ JOON?"— 

THE POSITION OF THE ORIGINAL WHAKF, FROM MAP, l65l. 



FOUR NEW Y^^RK BOYS 11] 

military defense against foes, red or white, and 
had t\\x) entrances, one at the East River, 
known as the Water Gate ; the other at the 
point where Wall Street now runs into Broad- 
way, known as the City Gate. Through this 
last-named gate went Hans and his father, and 
soon they reached the frozen swamp, where 
the young men of the town were shooting at 
turkeys iur prizes. They watched the contest- 
ants until it was time to go home for dinner, 
the principal dish of which on this day always 
was roast goose. 

Next day began preparations for the proper 
celebration of New Year's Day. Oly koeks 
crullers, and cookies were being made ready, 
for the calling day. On this day, every one 
kept open house, and cake and wine were 
freely offered to the men who called, who as 
freely partook of them. 



112 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



On Easter Monday, Hans and his playmates 
cracked hard-boiled colored eggs, one with the 
the other. These, with Pinkster, and May 
Day, and Paas (Easter), were the only holidays 
that Hans and the other little Dutch boys had. 




NORTH-EAST AND SOUTH-EAST CORNERS OF THE PRESENT BROAD STREET AND 

EXCHANGE PLACE. / 'aleutiue's Manual. 

One of Hans' delights was to help his mother 
during " killing time." This was in the late 
fall, when the supply of provisions for the 
winter had to be stored in the deep cellar, so 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 113 

built as to be cool in summer and warm in 
winter. The colored slaves did the hard work, 
you may be sure, but Hans thought he was a 
great help, even if they did not. 

The hogs and cattle were killed, and then 
had to be properly prepared. Huge casks in 
the cellar received pork and corned beef, while 
the smoke-house was filled with hams and sides 
of bacon and beef. Then came the making of 
the headcheese, sausages, and rolliches. These 
last were made of lean beef and fat cut up into 
small pieces, highly seasoned, sewed in tripe 
and then smoked. 

Not the least of the work was the trying 
out of the lard, and a big supply of that 
the housewife must have for her cakes and 
cookies. 

When all was through, what a brave sight 
the cellar presented ! Casks of pork and beef 



] 14 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

were stored in one place. Next came firkins 
of butter, jars of pickles, casks of salted shad 
and mackerel, which Ijut a few months before 
had been live fish swimming in the Bay. 
Above all, were festoons of sausages, and down 
the middle were swinging shelves on which i 
were the headcheeses and rolliches, being thus 
placed so that the mice could not get at them. 
Nearby were suspended venison and wild fowl, 
bought from the Indians. 

But this was not all. In another part of the 
cellar were bins of apples, potatoes, turnips, 
and parsnips, and barrels of vinegar, cider, and 
beer. In another corner, buried in sea-sand 
mixed with Indian meal, were oysters and 
clams, which were carefully watered twice a 
week with water brought from the Bay. At 
the base of the huge kitchen chimney was a 
box to hold the wood ashes that came down 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



115 



from the fireplace above, the use of which Hans 
was to learn later on. 




SOAP MAKING. 



With the spring came the quarterly soap 
making, and here Hans helped, by carrying 
water. The wood ashes that had been collected 
were placed in barrels that stood on frames 
underneath which were small, wooden tubs. 
Over the ashes was poured boiling water, 
which as it leached through into the small tubs 
underneath, became lye. 



116 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

When enough of this had been collected, it 
was poured into large iron pots hung over the 
fire, and the grease that had been saved in the 
kitchen since the last soap-boiling, was put into 
the lye and boiled for half an hour, when out 
came a good brown soap. This was cut into 
cakes and put away, being used for scrubbing 
and laundering. 

The quarterly clothes washing was another 
week of fun for Hans. This custom had been 
brought from Holland. And the candle-making 
was more fun still. Listen to the description 
of a candle-making given by Helen Evertson 
Smith in her " Colonial Days and Ways " : * 

"The scene was an immense kitchen. Be- 
tween the heavy ceiling beams, darkened and 
polished by the years of kindly smoke, hung 
bunches of dried herbs and ears of corn for 

* Reprinted by permission of the publishers, The Century Company. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 117 

popping. A large portion of one side of the 
room was taken up by a fireplace so big that 
there was space for a seat at each end after 
piles of logs four or five feet in length had 
begun to send their blaze up the wide chimney 
throat. These seats were stone slabs set in the 
side walls of the fire-place, and — as seats — 
were used only by persons who came in liter- 
ally dripping with rain or melting snow. Usu- 
ally the slabs were employed as resting places 
for things to be kept hot without burning. 
. . . Over the blaze swung long armed cranes 
supporting immense brass kettles. . . . The 
whitewashed walls were decorated with ever- 
green boughs. 

" Down the center, the longer way of the 
room, were two long ladders lying side by side, 
supported at each end upon blocks of wood 
about 'chair-seat high.' Under each ladder, at 



118 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

intervals of a foot stood a row of big three- 
footed iron pots and of footless brass kettles 
like those over the fire. On the floor, between 
the pots and kettles, were placed dripping-pans, 
to protect the floor from grease and to prevent 
a waste of tallow. Down the sides of the 
ladders were chairs, placed as closely as possible 
together. Before the merrymakers were seated, 
John by Molly and Peter by Sally, big and jolly 
black Castor and Pollux had lifted from the fire 
the brass kettles full of melted tallow, and 
deftly poured their contents, to the depth of 
two or three inches more than a long candle's 
length, upon the water with which the similar 
vessels were already half filled. 

"As soon as the young folks were seated, 
black Phyllis and Chloe deftly handed the 
candle rods, four or five to each person. From 
each rod were suspended the wicks of twisted 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 11!) 

cotton yarn which had been prepared by the 
housewife. 

•"The first dippings were rather solemn 
affairs. Much depended on starting aright. 
The least crook in the wick, if not straightened, 
insured a crooked candle ; and crooked candles 
were drippy things, burning unevenly and gut- 
tering in a way most vexatious to the housewife. 

"About six wicks were upon each rod. They 
must not hang too closely together, or, like too 
thickly planted trees, they would interfere with 
each other as they grew. They must not be 
too far apart, or there would not be room 
enough for all to be plunged evenly in the 
kettles. The wicks on each rod were carefully 
dipped their entire length in the kettle nearest 
to the right hand of the person dipping, the 
wicks passing through the melted tallow rest- 
ing on top of the water, and acquiring with 



120 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



each dip a thin layer of the tallow. . . . 
Slowly the wicks were immersed in the tallow, 
and then the loaded rods were hung in the 
spaces between the kettles, and over the empty 
pans, to allow the growing candles to harden 
before being dipped again and again until the 
proper circumference had been attained." 




From an old Dutch eiigravitig. 

VIEW OF NEW AMSTERDAM IN 1659. 



After the candle-dipping came supper, and 
after supper came a dance ; but Hans was 
always too sleepy to stay up for this. 

When Hans was old enough, he was sent 
to school, his father agreeing to pay two dried 



Pour new YoliK HOYS 121 

beaver skins a year for his tuition. Here be 
was taught with the other bovs. There were 
no schools for girls at this time in New 
Amsterdam. 

Hans worked hard, learning to read and to 
write Dutch, and to cipher. On his holidays, 
he and his playmates would go off for a good 
time. Sometimes in June they Avould go to 
gather strawberries, which grew in the utmost 
profusion in the fields near at hand. In the 
fall, they would follow the new road to Har- 
lem, which had just been opened, looking for 
kiskatomas (hickory) nuts, for every Dutch 
family had to have a goodly supply of these 
nuts f(^r winter evenings. 

Of all his outings, Hans enjoyed best the 
fishing trips with his father. A favorite spot 
with them was near the site of an old Indian 
village, the "fresh water," the Kolck, after- 



122 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



wards corrupted into Collect Pond, situated 
where now stands the City Prison. Here they 
were sure to get a good mess of perch and 
sunfish. And as the walk through the woods 



4 LOMG-E I_SLELAND-^- 




QNVT aNjv w -SHX 



•IHE ULK.t,'b ILAN: NEW A.MSPJiKDA.M IN 1D64. 



to and from the house to the pond was such a 
pleasant one, they often took it in the summer. 
In the spring and fall they made their fish- 
ing trips to the Bay. Here, in a spot close to 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 123 



Nutten's (Governor's) Island, they often went, 
with a slave to row their boat. The fish were 
so plentiful that they had no difficulty in fill- 
ing- their boat, in a very short time, with good- 
sized cod, mackerel, herring, halibut, sturgeon, 
and some of the fish common to our Bay now. 
These, when brought home, would be distrib- 
uted among the neighbors, enough being kept 
for the family, however. -Lobsters were plen- 
tiful, too, in those days, and Hans and his 
father occasionally set out a lobster-pot or two. 
One day, while Hans was playing on the 
street, he heard the cry of " Fire ! " He saw 
some men, carrying leathern buckets, running 
toward the Fort. He ran, too, and 
as he ran, he saw buckets coming 
out of open windows. These buck- 
ets belonged to men who could not 
come out at once, and so sent their 




124 FUUR NEW YORK BOYS 

pails where they could be picked up by some 
of the running folks and carried to the fire. 

When Hans reached the blazing house, he 
saw a double line of men reaching from the 
house down to the river. The filled buckets 
were passed up one line, the contents thrown 
on the flames, and the empty buckets passed 
down the other line to be refilled and sent 
back. And woe betide any one who attempted 
to break through these lines! A good sousing 
from one of the filled buckets was his reward. 
When the fire was out, Hans helped the fire- 
warden gather the buckets, so that they could 
be easily reclaimed by their owners when they 
came after them. 

In January, 1672, Hans saw the first letter- 
carrier start on the trip that established the 
postal service between New York and Boston. 
The way was so wild that the carrier, after 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



125 



leaving- Harlem, had to blaze his way through 
the woods until he reached Hartford, where 
he changed horses and continued on his way. 
In February he made the return trip. Monthly 
trips were made. 




From an old iiihograph. 
THE STADHUYS, OR CITY HALL, OF NFAV YORK IN 1679. CORNER OF I'EARL STREET AND 
COENTIES SLIP. 

When Hans was ten years old, New Am- 
sterdam was surrendered to the English. On 



12(i FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

the morning of September 8, 1664, he and his 
father went down to the Fort, where they saw 
the Dutch soldiers march out with the honors 
of war, and the English soldiers march in. The 
red, white, and blue flag of Holland came down, 
and the English standard went up. Fort Am- 
sterdam became Fort James, New Amsterdam 
became New York, and Stuyvesant became a 
private citizen. Nicolls was appointed the 
deputy-governor, to represent the Duke of 
York. 

The change of rulers made no change in the 
prosperity of the colony. The city records 
were ordered to be kept in both Dutch and 
English, and the schools taught the two lan- 
guages. This was hard on the pupils who 
heard nothing but Dutch at home. One school- 
master, to compel his scholars to master their 
English, adopted the ingenious plan of handing 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



127 



to the first pupil who used a Dutch word when 
English was to be spoken, a little piece of 
metal. When the holder of this piece heard 




AN OLD-TIME SCHOOL. 



another boy using Dutch, he passed the piece 
on to the latter. And so it continued during 
the day. At the close of the afternoon session, 
the unlucky boy that had it in his possession 
was soundly whipped. 



128 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



As Hans grew older he helped his father in 
business. He took charge of the accounts, 
and kept track of the wampum, which was the 
only currency the Indians would recognize. 




WAMl'UM BELT. 



This wampum, or seawant, was of two kinds, 
and was made at first by the Indians and after- 
wards by the Dutch. When the Indians made 
it, they had only stone tools to work with, but 
the Dutch used metal tools, something the 
Indians knew nothing of at first. 

The wampum was of two kinds, white and 
black, the former being worth only half the 
latter. The white was made from the stem of 



INDIAN WAMPUMS. 



130 FUUll NEW YORK BOYS 

the periwinkle, and the black from the purple 
coating of the hard clam. These were rounded 
and polished, pierced so that they could be 
strung" on animal sinews, and then woven into 
belts of different sizes. These strings had a 
specified value, and were current not only 
between the Indians and the whites, but were 
received in trade between colonists of different 
settlements. 

Sometimes Hans' father would send him to 
Albany on business This trip he would make 
by water, and it was long and tedious, as it 
was dependent on wind and tide. As they 
went by the estates of the three great Pat- 
roons — De Vries, Pauw, and Van Rensselaer 
— he would wonder if he would ever succeed 
in reaching such a high position as each of 
them had — Lord of the Manor. 

But most of Hans' work was in New 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



131 



York, and he might have been seen in " T' 
Marckvelt," now Marketfield Street, on the 







OLD DUTCH WINDMILL. 



regular market days, buying cattle or grain, 
which in turn was sold ; while he was always 
ready to barter with an Indian who came 



132 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



in with a pile of otter, marten, and beaver 
skins. 

As he grew up, he took part in the social 
gatherings — the " quilting-bees," "apple-bees," 



-i. 



rSf 












'*J 






-=r 



<!i*W 



{^ 







^ Ir Mm r r **■»• r has r '-^ • ^*?w*w> ■* v^ ,!,''•?, ^^ jS 

|r Pr F Sgf r US ^rh\ ^fmB-%m%^m^ ^ 




jflf 
ifff 






OLD DUTCH HOUSE IN BROAD STRBET, OLD DUTCH HOrSE IN PEARL STREET, 

BUILT, 1698. BUILT, 1626 — DEM0I.ISH6D, 1828. 

" husking-bees," and " raising-bees " — at which 
" many hands make light work," and when 
the allotted task was done, all sat down to 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 133 

supper, and finished the evening with a jolly 
dance. 

The habits of these Dutch burghers were so 
regular that there was little need of clocks and 
watches. In fact, there were but half a dozen 
of each in the settlement. Few of the clocks 
would go, and none of the watches. Sun- 
dials and hour-glasses marked the flight of 
time. At cockcrow the burghers rose, break- 
fasted at dawn, dined at noon, supped at six, 
and were in bed at nine. 

Hans was to see another change of rulers. 
In August, 1673, he saw a body of Dutch 
troops, who had been landed from Dutch ves- 
sels that had come up the harbor a day or two 
before, march down Broadway, and take pos- 
session of the Fort. They changed its name 
to William Hendrick, and that of the city to 
New Orange. 



134 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

But it was not long to remain in possession 
of the Dutch. A treaty of peace between 
England and Holland gave New Netherland 
to the former, and on November lo, 1674, 
Hans saw the English again in possession of 
the Fort, which they again called James, and 
New Orange disappear from the map, and 
New York reappear on it. He, with all the 
other inhabitants, was absolved from the oath 
of allegiance to the States General of Holland, 
and required to swear fealty to the King of 
England. 



GEORGE, THE ENGLISH BOY. 

From time to time European travellers in 
this part of the New World, when they returned, 
published their impressions, and their books 
spoke so w^ell of the new country that they 
doubtless influenced many to settle in it. 

The first book printed in English on the 
subject of New York was published in London 
in 1670, and was written by Daniel Denton, 
one of the first settlers in Jamaica. In con- 
cluding his description, he says : 

" But that which adds happiness to all the 
rest, is the Healthfulness of the place, where 
many people in twenty years' time never know 
what sickness is ; where they look upon it as a 
mortality if two or three die out of a town in a 
year's time; where besides the Sweetness of 



137 



138 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

the air, the Country itself sends forth such a 
fragrant smell, that it may be perceived at Sea 
before they can make the Land ; where no evil 
fog or vapour doth no sooner appear but a 
Northwest or a Westerly winde doth immedi- 
ately dissolve it, and drive it away : What 
shall I say more? You shall scarce see a 
house, but the South side is begirt with Hives, 
of Bees, which increase after an incredible 
manner : That I must needs say, that if there 
be any terrestrial Canaan, 'tis surely here, 
where the Land fioweth with milk and honey. 
The inhabitants are blest with Peace and 
plenty, blessed in their Country, blessed in 
their Fields, blessed in the fruit of their 
Grounds, in the increase of their Cattel, 
Horses and Sheep, blessed in their Basket, 
and in their Store ; in a word, blessed in 
whatsoever they take in hand, or go about, 



FOUK NEW YORK BOYS 111;) 

the Earth yielding plentiful increase to all 
their painful labours." 

Jasper Bankers, a Labidist, a sect in Holland 
somewhat similar to the Quakers in England, 
visited New Netherland and New England 
with a companion in 1679, seeking a place to 
plant a colony. Here is what he writes of a 
journey to Harlem: 

" We went from the city, following the 
Broadway, over the valey or the fresh water. 
Upon both sides of this way were many habi 
tations of negroes, mulattoes, and whites. 
These negroes were formerly the proper slaves 
of the (West India) Company, but, in conse- 
quence of the frequent changes and conquests 
of the country, they have obtained their free- 
dom and settled themselves down where they 
thought proper, and thus on this road, where 
they have ground enough left to live on with 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 141 

their families. We left the village called the 
Bouwerij, lying on the right hand, and went 
through the woods to New Harlem, a tolerably 
large village, situated about three hours' journey 
from New Amsterdam, like as old Harlem, in 
Europe, is situated about three hours' distance 
from old Amsterdam." 

Here is what he writes of a trip to Brooklyn : 
"There was thrown upon the fire, to be 
roasted, a pail full of Gowanes (Gowanus) 
oysters, which are the best in the country. 
They are fully as good as those of England, 
better than those we get at Falmouth. I had 
to try some of them raw. They are large and 
full, some of them not less than a foot long. 
Others are young and small. In consequence 
of the great quantities of them everybody keeps 
the shells for the burning of lime. They pickle 
the ovsters in small casks and send them to 



142 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

Barbadoes. We had for supper a roasted 
haunch of venison which he (the host) had 
bought of the Indians for three guilders and 
a-half of seawant, that is fifteen stivers of 
Dutch money (fifteen cents) and which weighed 
thirty pounds. The meat was exceedingly 
tender and good and also quite fat. It had a 
slight aromatic taste. We were also served 
with wild turkey, which was also fat and of a 
good flavor, and a wild goose, but that was 
rather dry. We saw here lying in a heap a 
whole hill of watermelons which were as large 
as pumpkins." 

In 1701 was published in London, "A two 
years journal in New York," written by Charles 
Wolley, a clergyman who had come over with 
Sir Edmund Andros in 1678, returning to 
England in 1680. He says: 

" Goods that are brought over commonly 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS Uo 

return coit per cent ; i. c. a hundred pounds 
laid out in London will commonly yield 200 
pounds there . . . and the commodities 
of that country will yield very near as much 
imported into England, for three and forty 
pounds laid out in Bever (beaver) and other 
Furrs, when I came away, I received about 
four-score in London." 

Is it a wonder, then, that people who read 
these books became desirous of living in the 
country described by them ? 

Living on the east coast of England, in the 
county of Suffolk, during the reign of George 
Second, was a family consisting of a father and 
his little boy, named George, and their servants. 
The mother had but recently died, and the 
father, on account of the sad memories con- 
nected with the place, had determined to emi- 
grate to America. Selling his lands, discharg- 



144 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

ing all his servants but one, Harriet, whom he 
kept to take care of George, he set sail for New 
York in 1740, bringing all his household goods 
with him. 

New York had changed greatly since Hans' 
time. It had grown to be a city of nearly 
ten thousand inhabitants. New streets, bor- 
dered with beech and locust trees, had been 
laid out, and these streets had been built up 
with many new houses of brick and stone. 
The city had outgrown its church in the Fort 
and several new ones had been erected. 
Bradford had printed the first number of his 
weekly, The New York Gazette, in 1725, and it 
remained the only newspaper in New York 
until 1733, when Zenger brought out his paper. 
The New York JVeekly Journal. English gov- 
ernor had succeeded English governor, and 
mayor had succeeded mayor. 




GO\ERNOR ANDROS 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 145 

The citizens grumbled 
occasionally at their rulers, 
but went on steadily devel- 
oping trade and increasing 
the prosperity of the col- n 
ony. Much of this pros- 
perity was due to the ** Bolt- 
ing Privilege " granted by 
Governor Andros to New York in 1678 and 
noted in our city seal. 

Flour by this time had become an important 
article of trade ; and to be given the exclusive 
privilege of " bolting " it, packing and shipping 
it, meant that the New Yorkers were bound to 
prosper and the city to grow. All other towns 
were forbidden to engage in this trade. 

The monopoly lasted sixteen years, and by 
the end of this time six hundred new houses 
had been erected in the city, the ships had 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



147 




increased in number 

from three to sixty, 

and the imports and 

exports had trebled in 

value. The l^eavers, 

the flour barrels, and 

the windmill-arms on 

our coat-of-arms show the foundations of the 

great wealth of our city. 

By 1683, the city had grown so as to make 
it necessary to divide it into six wards — South 
Ward, Dock Ward, East Ward, North Ward, 
West Ward, and the Out Ward. Years after, 
Montgomerie Ward was made out of a part of 
the Out Ward. 

In 1686, Governor Dongan granted the city 
the Charter which bears his name. It still 
forms the basis of the rights and privileges 
of our city. In 1691, Leisler was hanged 



148 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



for so-called treason by order of Governor 
Sloughter. 

By 1697, provision had been made for light- 
ing and cleaning the streets. Listen to what 




... i .M. 



OLD JAIL, SITUATED AT THE NORTH-EAST EXTREMITY OF THE I'ARK. 

Alice Morse Earle says of this and fires in the 
chapter on " Town Life " in her " Colonial 
Days in Old New York " : * 

"In December, 1697, city lamps were 

* Reprinted \)y permission of the pul)lishers, Charles Scril)ner's Sons, 



FOUR NEW YORK 150YS 



1 1:1 




ordered in New York ' in the dark 
time of the moon, for the ease of the 
inhabitants.' E\'ery seventh house 
was to cause a hmthorn and candle 
to be hung' out on a pole, the ex- 
pense to be equally shared by the 
se\'en neighbors, and a penalty of 
nine pence was decreed for every 
default. xA.nd perhaps the watch called out in 
New York, as did the watch in Old York, 
London, and other English cities, 'Lanthorn, 
and a whole candell-light ! Hang out your 
light here.' 

" The first mention of street-cleaning" was in 
1695, when Air. Vanderspiegle undertook the 
job for thirty pounds a year. By 1701, con- 
siderable pains were taken to clean the city, 
and to remove obstructions in the public ways. 
Every Friday dirt was swept, by each citizen, 



150 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



in a heap in front of his or her house, and 
afterward carted away by public cartmen, who 
had threepence a load if the citizen shovelled 
the dirt into the cart, sixpence if the cartman 




CANAL IN BROAD STREET, 1659. 



loaded the cart himself. Broad Street was 
cleaned by a public scavenger, paid by the 
city ; for the dirt from other streets was 
constantly washed into it by rains, and it 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 151 

was felt that Broad Street residents should 
not be held responsible for other people's 
dirt. 

" Regard was paid, from an early date, to 
preserving ' The Commons.' It was ordered 
that lime should not be burned thereon ; that 
no hoopsticks or saplings grown thereon 
should be cut ; no timbers taken to make into 
charcoal ; no turfs or sods carried away there- 
from ; no holes dug therein ; no rubbish de- 
posited thereon. 

"Within the city walls all was orderly and 
quiet. * All persons who enter ye gates of ye 
city with slees (sleighs), carts, and horses, 
horseback, not to ride faster than a foot-tap.' 
The carters were forced to dismount and walk 
at their horses' heads. All moved slowly in 
the tovv'n street. Living in a fortified town, 
they still were not annoyed by discharge of 



J-,2 FOUR NEW YORK IJOYS 



guns, for the idle ' fyring of pistells and gunns ' 
was prohibited. 

" In spite of vigilance, and in spite of laws, 
foul chimneys were constantly found. We 
hear of the town authorities reciting that 
they had long since condemned flag-roofs, 
and wooden and platted chimneys, but their 
orders had been neglected, and several fires 
have occurred ; therefore, they amplify their 
former orders as follows: 'All flag-roofs, 
wooden chimneys, hay barracks, and haystacks 
shall be taken down within four months, in the 
penalty of twenty-five guilders.' 

"The magistrates further equipped the town 
against conflagration, by demanding payment 
of a beaver skin from each house, to purchase 
with the collected sum two hundred and fifty 
leathern fire buckets from the Fatherland. 
But delays were frequent in ocean transporta- 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 153 

tion, and the shoemakers in town finally made 
the buckets. ... By 1738, two engines, 
with small wooden wheels, or rollers, were 
imported from England, and cared for with 
much pride." 



About two miles above the city, on the 
eastern shore of the North River, had been 
an Indian village, known as Sapokanican. 
Wouter Van Twiller, shortly after his arrival, 
had started a tobacco farm at this place. A 
settlement later grew up about the place, for 



l.H 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



the lands were fertile, " the air was sweet," 
the water pure and plentiful, and about it 
was the virgin forest, affording plenty of 
game for the larder. Here it was that 




MANKTTA WATBR 



George and his maid were brought by his 
father, and here they settled, near the Man- 
etta water. This spot was afterwards known 
as Greenwich Village, now the Ninth Ward 
of Manhattan. 



FOTIR NEW YORK BOYS I".- 

George saw but little of his father, who was 
more than busy looking after his plantation. 
It was Harriet who had charge of him, though 
she had to do the housework, too. Like all 
little boys, he sometimes wanted to be amused. 
The surest way to do this, when George was 
fretful, was for Harriet to take him up in her 
lap and tell him one of the old Suffolk tales, 
of which she knew so many, and of which he 
was so fond. His favorite was 

The Cap O' Rushes. 

There was once a very rich gentleman, and 
he had three daughters. Wishing to see how 
fond they were of him, he said to the first, 
" How much do you love me, my dear? " 

"As much as I love my life," she said. 

" That's good," said he, and he asked the 
second, "How much do you love me, my dear?" 



156 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

"Why," she said," better than all the world." 

" That's good," said he, and he then asked 
the third, " How much do yoit love me, my 
dear ? " 

"Why," she replied, "I love you as fresh 
meat loves salt." 

This reply made him angry. "You don't 
love me at all," said he, " and in my house 
you'll stay no more." He drove her out then 
and there, and shut the door in her face. 

She started to walk, and went on and on till 
she came to a marsh. There she gathered a 
lot of rushes and made them into a kind of 
cloak, with a hood, to cover her from head to 
foot, and to hide her fine clothes. Then she 
went on and on till she came to a great house. 

Here she knocked at the kitchen door, and 
asked the girl who opened it if they wanted a 
maid. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 157 

" No, we don't," said the girl. 

" I have nowhere to go. I ask no wages, 
and I'll do any sort of work." 

"Well," said the girl, " if you like to wash the 
pots and scrape the saucepans, you may stay." 

So she stayed there, and washed the pots, 
and scraped the saucepans, and did all the dirty 
work. And because she gave no name, they 
called her Cap O'Rushes. 

Well, one day there was to be a great dance 
a little way off. All the servants were let go 
to look at the grand people. Cap O'Rushes 
said she was too tired to go, so she stayed at 
home when the others went. 

But when they were gone, she took off her 
cap and gown of rushes, cleaned herself, and 
went to the dance. And no one was so finely 
dressed as she. 

Who was there but her master's son, and 



158 FOUR NEW YOEK BOYS 

when he saw her he would dance with no one 
else. 

Before the dancing was done, Cap O'Rushes 
dropped out and w^ent home. 

And when the other maids got back, she was 
asleep, with her cap o' rushes on. 

Next morning they said to her, "You missed 
a sight, Cap O'Rushes." 

" Why, what was that ? " said she. 

'* The prettiest lady you ever saw, dressed 
most beautifully. The young master danced 
and danced with her." 

" Well, I should like to have seen her," said 
Cap O'Rushes. 

" There's to be another dance this evening, 
and perhaps she'll be there." 

But when it came evening. Cap O'Rushes 
was too tired to go with them. However, 
after they had gone, she took off her cap 



I'OUR NEW YORK BOYS 159 

o' rushes, cleaned herself, and away she went to 
the dance. 

Again the master's son would dance with no 
one else. 

Before the dance was over, she slipped off 
and was soon home. When the maids reached 
there, they found her asleep, with her cap 
o' rushes on. 

Next day they said to her again, "Well, 
Cap O'Rushes, you should have been there to 
see the lady. She was there again, and the 
young master danced with nobody else but her." 

"Yes," she replied, "I should like to have 
seen her." 

"Well," they said, "there's a dance again this 
evening, and you must come with us, for she 
is sure to be there." 

When the evening came, Cap O'Rushes 
said she was too tired to go, and do what they 



1(50 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

would, she stayed at home. But when they 
were gone, she took off her cap o' rushes, 
cleaned herself, and away she went to the 
dance. 

The master's son was more than glad to see 
her, and danced with no one else. He asked 
for her name. She would not tell him that, 
nor where she came from. He gave her a 
ring, and told her if he did not see her again 
he should die. 

Before the dance was over, she slipped away 
home, and when the maids got back there, she 
was asleep, with the cap o' rushes on. 

Next day they said to her, '' There, Cap 
O'Rushes, you didn't come last night, and now 
you won't see the lady, for there are no more 
dances." 

"Well, I should like to have seen her," said 
she. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS ICl 

The master's son tried every way to find out 
where the lady had gone. But go where he 
would, and ask whom he would, he heard 
nothing. He worried and worried, until he 
got so sick he had to take to his bed. 

" Make some gruel for the young master," 
they said to the cook. " He's dying for love 
of the lady." 

The cook set about making it, when Cap 
O'Rushes came in. 

" What are you doing? " said she. 

" I'm going to make some gruel for the 
young master," said the cook, " for he's dying 
for love of the young lady." 

" Let me make it," said Cap O'Rushes. The 
cook wouldn't at first, but at last she said yes; 
and Cap O'Rushes made the gruel. And when 
she had made it, she slipped the ring into it on 
the sly, before the cook took it up stairs. 



1G2 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

The young man drank the gruel and saw 
the ring at the bottom. " Send for the cook," 
he said. So up she came. 

'* Who made this gruel ? " said he. 

" I did," said the cook, for she became fright- 
ened as he looked at her. 

"No, you didn't," he said. "Tell who did 
it, and you sha'n't be harmed." 

"Well then, 'twas Cap O'Rushes," said the 
cook. 

" Send Cap O'Rushes to me," he cried. 

So Cap O'Rushes came. 

" Did you make this gruel ? " he asked. 

" Yes, I did," said she. 

"Where did you get this ring?" was the 
next question. 

" From him who gave it me." 

" Who are you, then ? " said the young man. 

" I'll show you," said the girl, and she took 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS K;;] 

off her cap and gown of rushes, and there stood 
in her beautiful clothes. 

Well, the Master's son got well very soon, 
and they were to be married in a very little 
while. It was to be a grand wedding, and 
every one was asked, far and near. And Cap 
O'Rushes' father was asked. But she never 
told anybody who she was. 

Before the wedding she went to the cook 
and said to her : " I want you to dress every 
dish without a mite of salt." 

"Then the food won't be good," said the cook. 

"That doesn't signify," said she. 

" Very well," said the cook. 

Well, the wedding day came and they were 
married. And after they were married, all the 
company sat down to the breakfast. 

When they tasted the beef they could not 
eat it because it was so tasteless. But Cap 



let FOUR NEW YORK T.OYS 

O'Rushes' father, he tried first one dish and 
then another, and then he burst out crying. 

"What's the matter?" said the Master's son 
to him. 

" Oh ! " said he, " I had a daughter, and I 
asked her how much she loved me. She said, 
'As much as fresh meat loves salt.' Then I 
turned her from my door for I thought she 
didn't love me. Now I. see she loved me best 
of all, and she may be dead for aught I 
know." 

" No, father, here she is," said Cap O'Rushes. 

And she went up to him and put her arms 
around him, and they were happy ever after. 

This was the story George liked to hear after 
supper, and when Cap O'Rushes' father had 
found her he was willing to go to bed, where 
he would go off to dreamland whilst Harriet 
crooned this lullaby : 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



165 



" Sleep, baby, sleep. 
Our cottage vale is deep ; 
The little lamb is on the green 
With woolly fleece so soft and clean 
Sleep, baby, sleep ! 




" Sleep, baby, sleep, 
Down where the woodbines creep ; 
Be always like the lamb so mild, 
A kind, and sweet, and gentle child 
Sleep, baby, sleep ! " 



J 66 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

In the March following their arrival, George's 
father had to go to town one day to buy a 
new wig. All the gentry wore them at this 
time. 

Shortly after he had reached Hanover Square 
where his wigmaker carried on business, an 
alarm of fire was heard from the Fort, now 
Fort George, as the name changed with the 
change of the rulers in England. With the 
other citizens he ran to the fire to help put it 
out, but all their efforts were fruitless. Not 
only was the Governor's House burnt down, 
but the chapel, the stables and the barracks as 
well. George heard all about this when his 
father returned home. 

During the following month, a number of 
fires occurred in the city, and the whites accused 
the blacks of having hatched a plot to burn the 
town. At this time one-fifth of the population 



FOUU NKW YORK BOYS Ifi? 



was composed of negro slaves. They were 
under the most stringent laws. A slave could 
not testify against a freeman. He was not 
permitted to buy anything, not even the smallest 
necessary of life. If three of them were found 
together they were punished with forty lashes 
on the bare back. The calaboose for their 
punishment stood on the Commons, and at the 
foot of Wall Street was the slave market. 

Nearly every housekeeper owned slaves, but 
there w^ere none about George's home. His 
father did not believe in slave-holding, as most 
white men of that day did. He had been told, 
shortly after his arrival, of the alleged plot of 
1 71 2, when nineteen poor negroes had been 
executed for supposed complicity in it, and he 
shuddered at the thought that such cruelty 
could be practised under the English flag. 

Occasional travelers from the city, when 



168 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

stopping over night with them, would tell, 
while they were seated around the porch before 
going to bed, of the great excitement then in 
the city; of the negroes who had been arrested, 
tried, convicted, and executed, either by hang- 
ing or burning at the stake ; of the hanging of 
John Ury, a white schoolmaster, who was 
accused of being concerned in the plot. They 
wondered when it would all stop. They did 
not know that this reign of terror would con- 
tinue until near the end of September, when 
the citizens recovered their senses, and affairs 
went on as before. 

During the next year or two, George waxed 
fat and strong. Harriet took good care to 
teach him to love the King, and everything 
else English, particularly the county they had 
come from — Suffolk. She taught him his 
A-B-abs, and then to read ; and at the table 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 169 

he was always reminded of what he had to do 
by a little verse he learned from her : 

" Of a little, take a little, 
Manners so to do; 
Of a little, leave a little, 
That is manners, too." 

Another verse she made him learn : 

" Wilful waste makes woeful want. 
And you may live to say, 
I wish I had the piece of bread 
That once I threw away." 

This verse did much to make him a careful, 
saving lad. 

On Shrove Tuesday he always had pancakes 
for supper, carrying out the home custom ; 
and he firmly believed, with Harriet, that if it 
rained on St. Swithin's Day, July 15, it would 
rain forty days thereafter; for does not the old 
verse run : 



170 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

" St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain, 
For forty days it will remain ; 
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair, 
For forty days 'twill rain no more " ? 

The evening of the fifth of November, Guy 
Fawkes' Day, was celebrated in the city, by 
the English illuminating their houses, burning 
big bonfires on the streets, and firing guns. It 
was one of their great holidays, and was held 
in celebration of the discovery of the Gun- 
powder Plot ( 1605), a conspiracy formed by a 
few desperate men, under the leadership of 
Guy Fawkes, to blow up the Houses of Parlia- 
ment in London. You may be sure, as soon 
as George was old enough he had his bonfire, 
too. Think of him the next time you see a 
fire on election night, for the custom has 
descended to us from George's time. 

It was about this time that George learned 



FOUK NEW YORK BOYS 



171 



to skate on Manetta Creek, in which stream he 
caus^ht his first trout the next spring. Then, 
when he had learned the delights of fishing, he 




would often go with his father after the perch 
in Collect Pond. His bait was angle-worms, 
but he soon got tired of digging for them 
every time he wanted to go fishing; so he 



172 FOUK NEW YORK BOYS 

devised a plan for keeping them. He got a 
clean tin box, in the cover of which he made a 
number of small holes to let in the air. He 
then got some damp moss and nearly filled the 
box with it. In the evening he went out on 
the grass with a lantern, and by its aid soon 
had a lot of night-crawlers, which he put into 
his box. When he wanted to go fishing, all he 
had to do was to take a lump of moss out of 
the box, which he kept in a cool place, and he 
would find the moss filled with strong, healthy 
worms. 

During the summer, he learned to play 
Rounders. This is the game from which our 
baseball comes. He and three playmates 
would take part, using a rubber ball and a flat 
bat. One pitched, one caught, one fielded, 
and the other was the batter. When the 
batter hit the pitched ball, he had to run as far 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 173 

as the pitcher's place and back to home. If 
one of the other players could recover the ball, 
throw it at him, while he was running, and hit 
him, the batter was out, and the catcher went 
to the bat, the pitcher became catcher; and the 
fielder, pitcher. The batter who had been put 
out went into the field. 

If there w^ere not enough on hand to play 
Rounders they played Kit-cat, with short sticks 
and a cat, just as it is played today. 

His father taught him and the other boys to 
swim in the Hudson, there being a low, shelving 
beach near where they lived. 

The first day George w^ent to town was 
one long to be remembered. It was time for 
George to get more schooling than he could 
get at home and his father had determined 
to put him at school in the city. They were 
up bright and early, and after breakfast, they 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



set out, going by the river road, as the tide 
was out. 

George's father was dressed for the occasion. 
He ^\•()re black knee-breeches with long, black 
silk stockings. His tight-fitting black broad- 












m^j^^^m 



OLD STYLE SLF.IGH. 



]'a:entine's Manual, 1863. 



cloth coat was open in the front to show his 
embroidered waistcoat and ruffled shirt. On 
his shoes were silver buckles, and on his head 
covering his hair was his best wig coming 
down to his shoulders, and over his wig was a 



176 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

plentiful supply of gray powder. Above the 
wig was the three-cornered hat. By his side 
was a sword and in his hand a cane. 

After a pleasant walk they reached the city, 
passing through the west gate of the new 
stockade, a little to the north of where Warren 
and Greenwich Streets now intersect. 

They went direct to the inn where they were 
to put up, "The Crown and Thistle " on the 
Whitehall, the starting point of the stage line 
to Burlington, N. J. Here they had some 
light refreshment, and then they went out for 
a walk. 

The first thing that attracted George's atten- 
tion was the sign on the door of each merchant's 
house. A goldsmith had " The Teapot and 
Tankard " ; an ironmonger, " Golden Anvil and 
Hammer"; a brass founder, "Andiron and 
Candlestick"; a brazier, " Cat and Kettle"; a 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 177 

coachmaker, "Chariot and Phaeton"; an inn, 
" Dog's Head in the Porridge Pot." 

They strolled around until it was time for 
dinner, when they returned to the " Crown and 
Thistle," had their dinner, and in the afternoon 
went out again. 

When they were tired walking, they went 
into a coffee-house, and here each had a cup of 
tea, while they listened to one of the gentlemen 
present read aloud the latest London news 
from the Boston " News Letter." 

After resting themselves sufficiently they 
continued their walk. As they passed the 
Bowling-Green they saw a party of gentlemen 
playing at bowls, whilst a little farther on they 
saw a gentleman golfing, and nearby a party 
of boys playing tennis. On they went, out 
mto the country, until they reached a spring of 
very good water, afterwards known as the Tea 



17S FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

Water Pump, where, after refreshing them- 
selves with a draught of the delicious water, 
they sat down on the grass and watched the 
slaves filling kegs with water to take to their 
masters' houses, there being no good water in 
the city. 

It was soon time for them, however, to return 
to the city and visit the private school where 
George was to be placed. Here they called, 
made the necessary arrangements, and here 
George remained, learning English, mathe- 
matics, Latin and Greek, as well as fencing 
and dancing, until 1754, when King's College, 
now Columbia, being opened, he entered it as 
a student. 




SiijdyHook r«i 

f v) '' • icaic of Milcf ^ 



NEW YORK ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 




THE MEAL AND SLAVE MARKET, FOOT OF WALL STREET, 1746. 



ft' 
1 f^ 







THE BATTERY IN 1746. 



ROBERT, THE AMERICAN BOY. 

When George the Third ascended the Eng- 
lish throne, there came into the world in a 
house in Crown (now Liberty) Street in the 
City of New York, a sturdy youngster, called 
by his parents, Robert. 

The New York of that day contained nearly 
twenty thousand inhabitants and the city ex- 
tended to the north side of the Commons. 
While it had increased in wealth, the people 
felt that the Navigation Acts, which forbade the 
colonists to trade with any country but England 
or to export to England any merchandise save 
in English vessels, had not permitted them to 
do as well as they could have done had their 
trade not been restricted. Manufacturing was 
practically forbidden. Raw materials, iron, 
wool, and the like, had to be shipped to England 



181 



182 FOUR NEW YORK ROYS 

in English vessels, there to be manufactured 
and returned to America, where a heavy duty 
had to be paid on them. Sugar, molasses, and 
all other articles of luxury when brought into 
the country were heavily taxed. This made 
the people discontented. 

Despite the fact that many were bitter against 
the home government, they did not forget to 
enjoy themselves. In the warm weather there 
were pleasant places of amusement which they 
frequented. Here is the advertisement of one 
favorite spot : 



Spring Gardens, near the College, lately belonging to 
Mr. John Marshall, is opened for breakfasting from 
7 o'clock till 9. 

Tea in the afternoon from 3 to 6. 

The best of green tea, etc. 

Hot French rolls will be provided. 

N. B. — Pies and tarts will be drawn from 7 in the 
evening ti'l 9, where gentlemen and ladies may de- 
pend on good attendance. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



183 



Some people now 
kept their carriages, ve- 
hicles unknown in the 



Dutch d; 



thoueh 



lays, ^. 

there was not much 




A LANDAU. 



occasion for their use, as the short distances 
in the city could easily be made on foot, while 
the roads leading out of the city were not in 
the best condition. 

The theater furnished amusement to many. 
The plav began at six o'clock, and ladies " are 
requested to send their servants to keep their 
places at 4 o'clock, the tickets to be had at the 
Bible and Crown, in Hanover Square, and at 
Mr. Hayes's, at the area of the theatre." As 
the streets were now lighted with lamps there 
was but little danger in being out after nightfall. 

Nor were the blacks forgotten. Their great 
outing was on Pinkster. Cooper, in " Satans- 



184 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



toe," gives some vivid pictures of the city at 
this time: 




AMERICAN STAGE COACH. 



His hero, Corney Littlepage, on his first 
visit to the city goes to see the Patroon of 
Albany pass by. 

** We were not altogether children and blacks 
who were out on the Bowery that day — many 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 185 

tradesmen were among us, the leather aprons 
making a goodly parade on that occasion. I 
saw one or two persons wearing swords, hover- 
ing around, in the lanes and in the woods. 
I shall not stop to say much of the 
transit of the patroon. He came about noon, 
as was expected, and in his coach-and-four, 
with two outriders, coachman, etc., in liveries, 
as is usual in the family of the gentry. 
The patroon was a sightly, well-dressed gentle- 
man, wearing a scarlet coat, flowing wig, and a 
cocked-hat ; and I observed that the handle of 
his sword was solid silver." 

Later, Corney goes to see the Pinkster frolic. 
Here is what he says of it: 

*' The next day was the first of the three that 
are devoted to Pinkster — the great Saturnalia 
of the blacks. . . . He meets two com- 
panions and "about nine o'clock all three of us 




TRINITY CHUKCH AS ENLARGED, I737. 



P\)UU NKW YOKK liOYS 1,S7 

passed up Wall Street, on the stoops of which 
no small portion of its tenants were seated, 
enjoying the sight of the negroes, as, with 
happy, shining faces, they left the different 
dwellings to hasten to the Pinkster field. 

" After showing Jason (one of his compan- 
ions) the City Hall, Trinity Church, and the 
City Tavern, we went out of town, taking the 
direction of a large common. 

" Jason was at first confounded by the 
noise, dances, music, and games that were 
going on. By this time nine-tenths of the 
blacks of the city, and of the whole country 
within thirty or forty miles, indeed, were col- 
lected in thousands in those fields, beating 
banjos, singing African songs, and laughing 
in a way that seemed to set their very hearts 
rattlinuT within their ribs. . . . Amone 
other things some were making music by 




TRINITY CHURCH. Valentine' s Manual, lS§q. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 189 

beating on skins drawn over the ends of 
hollow logs, while others were dancing to 
it in a manner to show that they felt infinite 
delight. 

" Hundreds of whites were w^alking through 
the fields, a xiused spectators. Among these 
last were a great many children of the better 
class, who had come to look at the enjoyment 
of those who attended them, in their ordinary 
amusements." 

Robert grew up a sturdy lad. The troubles 
that were brewing did not trouble him in the 
least, no matter wdiat they meant to his father 
and the other Sons of Liberty, as the younger 
men of the patriots throughout the thirteen 
colonies called themselves. 

When Robert was five years old Parliament, 
passed the Stamp Act. This law^ required that 
all deeds, receipts, checks, and the like should 



11)0 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



be written on stamped paper, the revenues 
arising from the sale of this paper to go to the 
English government. It was ordered that the 
law should go into effect on the first of the 
following November. 





When news of this reached the different 
colonies, opposition arose, which resulted in the 
holding of the First Colonial Congress in New 
York in October. This body protested to both 
King and Parliament against the tax, but to no 
avail. The Stamp Act was to be enforced. 
Late in October a vessel arrived with the 
stamps on board. 

Next morning when Robert went out with 
his father the first thing that struck their eyes 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS ];)! 

was a written placard pasted on the door of the 
house opposite : 






and no matter where they went the talk was 
all of the injustice of making the colonists use 
stamped paper. Much of the talk Robert 
could not understand, but he could and did 
understand the spirit that resented an injustice. 
The morning before the day set for the act 
to go into effect, Robert was wakened by the 



192 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

tolling of bells. He jumped out of bed and 
looking out of the window, saw that the flags 
were at half mast. 

Minute-guns were fired. 

"What does it mean, father?" he said. 

" It means, my son," the father replied, " the 
last day of liberty." 

That evening Robert's father was one of the 
merchants who met together and agreed to 
import no goods from England while the Stamp 
Act remained in force. 

The people co-operated with the merchants, 
and began manufacturing what they needed, 
instead of importing the goods from England. 

Owing to this determined opposition of the 
colonists the act was never enforced and the 
following year Parliament repealed it. The 
Liberty Boys erected a liberty pole on the 
common in honor of their victory. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 193 

On the post-office building on Broadway 
you will find a tablet commemorating this 
event. 



ON THE CO.M.MOX OK THE CITY OE NEW YORK 

NEAR WHERE THIS BUILDING NOW STANDS THERE 

STOOD FROM 1 766 TO 1 776 A LIBERTY POLE ERECTED 

TO COMMEMORATE THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT 

IT WAS REPEATEDLY DESTROYED BY THE VIOLENCE OF 

THE TORIES AND AS REPEATEDLY REPLACED BY THE 

SONS OF LIBERTY WHO ORGANIZED A CONSTANT 

WATCH AND tJUARD. IN ITS DEFENCE THE 

FIRST MARTYR BLOOD OF THE AMERICAN 
REVOLUTION WAS SHED ON JAN. 1 8, 1 770. 

A. D. 1897 ERECTED BY 
THE MARY WASHINGTON COLONIAL CHAPTER 
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



When Robert was old enough he was sent 
to the school of the Dutch Church. His father 
helped him with his lessons, so that he made 
rapid progress. Occasionally his father would 






' 1 



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I (III M lllll Tl I III III! i 



f,f. --n^^i,-) 



^ ro 



'' Rn>1 



:^'^^0^-= 



ST. PAUL S CHURCH, 



FOUR NEW YOKK BOYS 



195 



tell him of the old days in New York. He 
liked to hear of the pirates, and never tired of 
hearing the story of Captain Kidd. This is 
the way his father told it: 

r-" •' During the time 
of Governor Fletcher, 



■isjr^ 




^^^^ seventy years ago, 
you might have seen 
', on the streets at any 
,• time during the day, 
had you been in New 
York, fierce looking 
men, gayly dressed, 
who were plainly seamen. They spent money 
freely, as it came easily. They were pirates, 
and they came to be pirates in this way : 

" European powers, when at war with one 
another, commissioned private vessels to make 
war on the enemies' commerce. These vessels 



196 FOUK NEW YORK BOYS 

were called privateers, and were supposed to 
attack only merchantmen flying the enemy's 
flag ; but many of them paid no respect to any 
flag, capturing everything that came in their 
way. They then ceased to be privateers and 
became pirates. 

" New York, having a fine harbor and being 
a good market, was infested with them. They 
walked the streets boldly, for they were sure 
of not being molested ; and disposed of their 
captured goods as opportunity offered, going 
on another voyage when every thing was sold. 
It was suspected that Governor Fletcher had a 
share in their booty. 

" This was all very well for the pirates, but 
the honest merchants saw their trade disap- 
pearing. They made such strong objections 
that the English government had to do some- 
thing to stop the piracy. They recalled 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



197 



Fletcher and appointed as his successor, Lord 
Bellamont, with instructions to suppress this 
illegal business. 




"Accordingly, Lord Bellamont fitted out a 
vessel, with the help of a number of gentlemen, 



198 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

and gave the command of it to Captain William 
Kidd, a New York sea captain, who was in- 
structed to go to the India seas, and there 
destroy the pirates. He sailed to the India 
seas, but instead of destroying the pirates he 
became one himself. He flew the black flag 
only two years, but he plundered scores of 
ships in that time, amassed great wealth, and 
made his name a terror on the seas. 

** He came back to New York in a vessel he 
had captured, burying his part of the treasure 
on an island in Long Island Sound and giving 
the crew their portion and discharging them. 
As Fletcher was no longer in control in New 
York, there was no longer protection for pirates, 
so Kidd went to Boston, where he lived under 
an assumed name. Lord Bellamont happened 
to meet him on the street one day and recog- 
nizing him, had him arrested. Kidd was sent 



FOUR NP:W YORK BOYS 



111!) 



to England for trial, found guilty of piracy, 
sentenced to death and hung in May, 1701. 
After his death the authorities dug up the gold, 
silver, and jewels he had buried, and kept them." 








BOWLING GRREN IN 1800. 



During Robert's summer holidays, when he 
was nine years old, his father redeemed a 
promise made in the winter — that they would 
make a trip to Kingsbridge some fine day. 

It was a long walk for a little fellow, but as 
they were to take their time, Robert did not 
mind that. 



Eft*^ 






m^ 



- ^ - 






FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 201 

There was but one road that ran the length 
of the island in those days. It was known as 
the King's Bridge or Post Road. It began at 
the Bowery where it left the City at Chatham 
Square. It went north as far as Fourteenth 
Street along the line of Fourth Avenue, then 
crossed Union Square diagonally to Broadway 
and kept the course of the latter to Madison 
Square at Twenty-third Street. 

Crossing this square diagonally, the road 
stretched along between Fourth and Second 
Avenues to Fifty-third Street, passed east of 
Second Avenue, and then turning westerly 
entered what is now Central Park at Ninety- 
second Street. Leaving the Park at a hollow 
in the hills known as McGowan's Pass on the 
line of One hundred and Seventh Street west 
of Fifth Avenue, it followed Harlem Lane to 
the end of the Island. Here, on the other side 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 203 

of a wooden bridge, the road diverged. Pass- 
ing over Macomb Street, the right-hand road 
went to Boston, and the left-hand road to 
Albany. Of course you understand there were 
no avenues, squares, and streets at that time; 
the names of the thoroughfares of to-day are 
here given. 

Robert and his father strolled leisurely along 
after they got outside the City. The sounds 
from the woods through which they were 
passing — the singing of the birds, the chatter- 
ing of the many squirrels who were angry at 
being disturbed, the hum of the busy bees, 
the rippling of the running brooks, and the 
soughing of the wind through the trees — 
made pleasant music for their ears; while they 
feasted their eyes on the ever-varying vistas, 
through which now and then could be caught 
a glimpse of the rippling surface of the ri\'er. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



205 



Long before noon they reached Day's Inn, 
where they stopped for dinner. In the cool of 
the afternoon they went on, passing the place 
where Fort Washington was soon to be built, 




■«r " 'i-i-^^Ji 






HUDSON RI\ER FROM HOBOKEN 



I'alentine s Miuiual. 



until they reached the bridge, which they 
crossed, and put up at Cock's Tavern. Here 
a good supper and a night's rest made them 
ready for more sight-seeing. 

After breakfast the next morning they started 
to walk towards the Hudson. When they 



206 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

reached the bridge they stopped to have a chat 
with the man who tended it. He was full of 
information and told them much of interest. 
He said : 

" Long before the first bridge was built, 
1693, the shallow place you see there," pointing 
to the east, " was known as the ' wading-place,' 
the only spot where travellers to and from the 
island and the mainland could cross. Next 
came a ferry. The ferryman was required to 
keep a dwelling-house in which were three or 
four beds for strangers. The rates he could 
charge were made by the authorities, and were 
curious." Here the man showed them a card 
with the following marked on it: 

Ye Ferryman — His Rates. 

For lodging any person, 8 pence per night, in case they 
have a bed with sheets ; and without sheets, 2 pence 
in silver. 

For transportation of any person, i penny in silver. 



FOUR NKW YORK BOYS 207 

F"or transportation of a man and horse, 7 pence in silver. 

For a sin^^^le hor^^c, 6 pence. 

For a turn with his boat, for two horses, lO pence; and 

for an\' more, 4 pence apiece; and if they be driven 

over, hah' as much. 
For single cattle, as much as a liorse. 
For a boat loading of cattle, as he hath for horses. 
For droves of cattle to be dri\'en over, and opening ye 

gates, 2 pence per piece. 
For feeding of cattle, 3 pence in silver. 
.For feeding a horse one day or night with ha}' or grass, 

6 pence. 

"As time went on, increasing travel made it 
necessary to ha\'e a bridge. The authorities, 
however, would not build it because of the ex- 
pense. A citizen offered to build one provided 
he could charge tolls. He was given the 
necessary permission and built a draw-bridge 
a little to the east of where we are now 
standing, this bridge being built twenty years 
after. 

"This was the only bridge between Man- 
hattan and the mainland until a few years ago. 



2()8 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

The King's Bridge was unpopular for two 
reasons: It was a toll-bridge ; night travellers 
had great trouble in waking the gatekeeper to 
let them through the barrier. This led to the 
building of the Free Bridge which you see a 
little way to the east, which was opened with a 
grand barbecue on New Year's Day, i 759." 

Thanking the man for his courtesy, they 
continued their walk, keeping close to the right 
bank of the creek, and soon reached a hilly 
country plentifully wooded. Here at the foot 
of Spuyten Duyvil hill they sat down by a 
spring of clear, cold water and refreshed them- 
selves with a draught of it. 

As they watched the waters of the creek 
rushing to join the lordly Hudson, Robert was 
told by his father of the Indians who formerly 
lived near the spot where they were sitting in 
a fortified village called " Nipnicksen," and 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 20'.) 

called his attention to a pile of oyster shells 
near at hand, left there by the Red Men. 

Robert, who became verv much interested in 
the Red Men, asked his father to what tribe 
they belonged, and was told they were Man- 
hattans of the tribe of Lennai-Lenapes or Dela- 
wares, who belonged to the great Algonquian 
nation. Then his father went on to tell him of 
the numerous tribes stretching along the At- 
lantic coast, into which this nation was divided, 
and of their enemies, the Iroquois, the " people 
of the Long House." Robert asked where 
they lived, and his father told him that the 
tribes composing the Six Nations, as they were 
called, lived in the central part of New^ York 
Province, and further that they were friendly to 
the English and deadly enemies of the French. 
Upon Robert asking for the names of the 
tribes, his father gave him the following : 



210 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



Oneidas, Cayugas, Senecas, Onondagas, Mo- 
hawks, and Tuscaroras. 




Three Pounds. • No. 

y?r a H Ja CZII of the Colony of 
NEW-YORK, this Bill fhallbe 
received in all Payments in the 
Trca/ury, for 'i^\)xce ^OUUtr^f. 

New York, Februaxy 16, 177X 



i^SSi 




--0 O OS □ n H K S2 o.rr : 

NEW YORK COLONIAL CURRENCY 



'Tis Death to counterfeit. 
60s 



It was nearing sundown when Robert heard 
the last of the Indians — time to return to the 
inn for supper and sleep. Next day they went 
back to the city in the same leisurely fashion 
they had left it, very much pleased with their 
excursion. 

As they walked along, Robert asked his father 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 211 

why the place they had visited the day before 
was called Spuyten Duyvil. The father could 
not tell. Had it been a few years later than it 
was, so that he could have read what Irving 
wrote about Spuyten Duyvil in " Knicker- 




SPDYTEN DUTVIL OF TO-DAY. 



bocker's History of New York," he might have 
told Robert the story therein contained. But 
as Irving had not yet written the story, in fact 
was not yet born, of course he could not tell it. 
But if you will read the following you will 
find it for yourself. 



212 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 




WASHINGTON IRVING. 



A Doleful Disaster of Antony, the 
Trumpeter. 

"Resolutely bent, however, 
upon defending his beloved city, 
Vr. >f ; in despite even of itself, Stuy- 
vesant called unto him his 
trusty Van Corlear, who was 
his right-hand man in all times 
of emergency. Him did he adjure to take 
his war-denouncing trumpet, and mounting 
his horse, to beat up the country night and 
day; sounding the alarm along the pastoral 
borders of the Bronx ; startling the wild soli- 
tudes of Croton ; arousing the rugged yeomen 
of Weehawk and Hoboken, the mighty men 
of battle of Tappan Bay, and the brave boys 
of Tarrytown, Petticoat Lane, and Sleepy 
Hollow, charging them one and all to sling 
their powder-horns, shoulder their fowling- 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS il.', 



pieces, and march merrily down to the Man- 
hattoes. 

" Now, there was nothing in all the world 
that Antony Van Corlear loved better than 
errands of this kind. So, just stopping to take 
a lusty dinner, and bracing to his side his 
junk-bottle, well charged with heart-inspiring 
'Hollands, he issued jollily from the city gate, 
which looked out upon what is at present 
called Broadway, sounding a farewell strain, 
that rung- in sprightly echoes through the 
winding streets of New Amsterdam. Alas ! 
never more were they to be gladdened by the 
melody of their favorite trumpeter. 

" It was a dark and stormy night when the 
good Antony arrived at the creek, which sepa- 
rates the island of Manna-hatta from the main- 
land. The wind was high, the elements were 
in an uproar, and no Charon could be found to 



214 FOUR NEW YOKK BOYS 

ferry the adventurous sounder of brass across 
the water. For a short time he vapored, like 
an impatient ghost, upon the brink, and then 
bethinking himself of the urgency of his 
errand, took a hearty embrace of the stone 
bottle, swore most valorously that he would 
swim across in spite of the devil ! ( Spuyt den 
Duyvil!) and daringly plunged into the stream. 
Luckless Antony! Scarce had he buffeted 
half way over^ when he was observed to 
struggle violently, as if battling with the spirit 
of the waters — instinctively he put his trum- 
pet to his mouth, and, giving a vehement blast, 
sank forever to the bottom. 

"The clangor of his trumpet rang far and 
wide through the country, alarming the neigh- 
bors round, who hurried in amazement to the 
spot. Here, an old Dutch burgher, famed for 
his veracity, and who had been a witness of 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 215 

the fact, related to them the melancholy affair, 
with the fearful addition ( to which I am slow 
in giving belief) that he saw the duyvil, in the 
shape of a huge moss-bunker, seize the sturdy 
Antony by the leg, and drag him beneath the 
waves. Certain it is, the place, with the ad- 
joining promontory, which projects into the 
Hudson, has been called Spuyt den Duyvil 
ever since. The ghost of the unfortunate 
Antony still haunts the surrounding solitudes, 
and his trumpet has often been heard by the 
neighbors, of a stormy night, mingling with 
the howling of the blast. Nobody ever at- 
tempts to swim across the creek after dark; on 
the contrary, a bridge has been built to guard 
against such melancholy accidents in the 
future; and as to the moss-bunkers, they are 
held in such abhorrence that no true Dutch- 
man will admit them to his table." 




From " The Campaign of 177^," by H. P. Johnson. By permission of the author. 



FOUR NEW YORK IJOVS 217 

Robert had often heard his father and 
mother talk of the Five Dutch Towns of 
Long Island — Breuckelen, later Brooklyn; 
Amersfoort, later Flatlands ; Medwoud, later 
Flatbush ; New Utrecht and Gravesend. These 
had been settled soon after Manhattan had 
been colonized. 

Robert was so well pleased with his trip 
to the mainland, that but a few days after 
their return, he asked his father to take him 
across the river and show him Brooklyn. His 
father told him, if his mother consented, that 
they would make a long trip of it, and see 
not only Brooklyn but some other nearby 
towns. To Robert's delight his mother gave 
her permission, prepared such changes of cloth- 
ing as they needed, and sent them on their 
way rejoicing bright and early one August 
morning. 



FOUU NEW YORK BOYS 21!) 

It seemed but a step to the Fly Market 
where they were to take a boat. Robert asked 
his father why they called it Fly Market. His 
father told him that the Dutch when they were 
in possession of the town had called the market 
V'lei Market. It was situated in a little valley * 
through which ran a stream that emptied into 
the East River. " V'lei is Dutch for valley," 
said the father, " but the English found it a 
hard name to pronounce, and changed it to 
Fly, which is much easier to say." 

Whilst they were talking they had reached 
the river where the ferryman was waiting for 
them. The father handed over the fare, two 
pence for each, they stepped on board and were 
ferried over to Nassau, as Long Island was 
sometimes then called, and landed at the 
King's highway, now Fulton street. They 

* Now Maiden Lane. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 221 

walked along leisurely toward Flatbush w^iere 
they intended staying over night. 

Upon reaching the village they put up at 
the inn, the sign of which, swung between two 
high poles in front of the door, showed the 
" Lion and Unicorn fighting for the Crown," 
the English coat of arms. 

At supper that evening they met a gentle- 
man who had just ridden in from Jamaicci. 
They found him full of information and will- 
ing to talk. So, after supper, they went into 
the parlor, had the candles lit, and had a pleas- 
ant chat. He told them, in answer to their 
questions, how Flushing had been settled in 
1645 ^"*^ Jamaica in 1656, in both cases by 
Englishmen ; and further said that for many 
yeais after Flushing had been settled there 
was no road by which the inhabitants could 
get to Brooklyn or New York, except by way 



222 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

of Jamaica, owing to the swamps, streams and 
thick forests, which prevented direct communi- 
cation. In good weather, however, a man who 
kept a small store near the head of the bay, 
would take passengers over to the city in a 
large canoe which he had bought from the 
Indians. 

He told them further how in 1665, Long 
Island, Staten Island and Westchester were 
erected for legal purposes into a shire (county). 
It was called Yorkshire, upon Long Island ; 
and was divided into districts called Ridings, 
as is Yorkshire in England. King's county, 
Staten Island and the town of Newtown were 
known as the West Riding; Suffolk County 
as East Riding; and the towns in Queens, 
with the exception of Newtown, and West- 
chester, as the North Riding. This division 
existed until 1683. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



Coming down to a later day, he told them 
the story of Zachariah Hood, a stamp officer, 
who had fled from Maryland to New York and 
thence to Flushing in November, 1765. The 
Sons of Liberty heard of it, and some fifty of 
them went to Flushing by land and water, 
surrounded Hood's lodging and forced him to 
resign. They then escorted him to Jamaica, 
where he took the oath before a justice of the 
peace. Next morning the Sons of Liberty re- 
turned to New York in procession, carrying 
the flag of liberty inscribed 



LIBERTY, 
Property 

AND 

No Stamps. 



When the stranger had finished telling of the 
Liberty Boys it was late and time to go to bed. 



224 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

Next morning they were up betimes. Dur- 
ing breakfast Robert was asked by his father 
if he would like to see Staten Island. Robert 
said he would be only too glad to go. So 
after breakfast they started for the ferry. 
Here is how the ferry was advertised: 

" This is to inform the Publick that John 
Lane now keeps the ferry at Yellow Hook, 6 
miles below New York ferry on Long Island, 
and has provided good boats, well fitted, with 
proper hands, and will be ready at all times 
(wind and weather permitting) to go to Smith's 
Ferry on Staten Island, with a single man only. 
There will be good entertainment at said house, 
where all gentlemen travellers and others may 
expect the best of usage, for themselves and 
horses, from their very humble servant, 

John Lane. 

" N. B. Travellers are desired to observe in 
going from Flatbush to said ferry to keep the 
mark'd trees on the right hand." 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



225 



When they reached John Lane's, they had 
dinner, and while the notice said " with a single 
man only," no objection was made to letting 
Robert get on board the boat with his father, 
when they were ready to go. Crossing the 





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THE BLACK HORSE TAVERV TODAY. 



Narrows, they disembarked on Staten Island, 
and walking to the southwest soon reached the 
Black Horse Tavern, a few years later to be 
made famous as the rendezvous of General 
Howe's troops. 




NEW YORK, 1764 



Bellin 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS -y-l'J 

After dinner they continued their walk. 
Following the road, which led to the south- 
west, they reached the shore opposite Amboy. 
Here they turned to the north, and soon 
reached the Blazing Star Tavern, where they 
remained for the night. 

During the evening, Robert's father asked 
the owner whether the stage-coach made a 
regular return trip the next day from Phila- 
delphia to Powles's Hook (now Jersey City). 
The owner told him they could sail the next 
morning, by way of the new Blazing Star 
Ferry, to Bergen Point, and there take the 
stage-coach — the Flying Machine — which 
would get them to Powles's Hook before sun- 
set, and thus enable them to cross the river 
the same day, as no boats were rowed over 
after dark. 

They then asked the owner if he could tell 



2-28 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 



them anything of the purchase of the island. 
He told them that the island was sold and 




To the PUBLIC. 

THE FLYING MACHINE, kept by 
John Mercereau, at the New-Blazing-Star-Ferry, 
nciar New-York, fets off from Powles-Hook every Mon. 
day, WedneWay, and Friday Mornings, for Philadelphia, 
and performs the Journey in a Day and A Half, for the 
Summer Seafon, till the iftof November; from that Time 
to go twice a Week till the firil of May, when they 
again perform it three Times a Week. When the Stages 
go only twice a Week, they fct off Mondays andThurf- 
days.* The Waggons in Fhiladelphia fet out from the 
Sign of the George, in Second- ftfeet, the fame Morning. 
The Paffengers are defired to crofs the Ferry the Evening 
before, as the. Stages muft fet off early the next Morning. 
The Price for each ?af{tn^et\^7'wenty Shillings, Proc.*and 
Goods as ufual.' Paffengers going Part of the Way to pay 
in Proportion. 

As the Proprietor has made iuch Improvements upon 
the Machines, one of which is in Imitation of a Coach, 
he hopK to merit the Favour of the Publick. 

'^ JOHN MERCEREAU. 

j/atTYcfk Ganttte '1J71 



resold by the Indians to the whites. Finally, in 
1670, under Governor Lovelace, nine sachems 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 229 



signed the deed which finally conveyed the 
island to the English. 

The sale read as follows : 



The payment agreed upon by ye purchase 
of Staten Island, conveyed this day by ye 
Indian Sachems' property is, viz.: 

I. Four hundred fathoms of wampum. 



2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 

lO 

1 1 



Thirty match boots. 

Eight coates of Durene made up. 

Thirty shirts. 

Thirty kettles. 

Twenty gunnes. 

A Firkin of powder. 

Sixty barres of lead. 

Thirty axes. 

Thirty horns. 

Fifty knives. 



By the time the tavern-keeper had reached 
the end of the list, Robert's head was nodding 



FOUR NEW YORK BUYS 



231 



to and fro, for he had seen the sand-man. So 
to bed they went, to be ready for their long 
trip next day. When next day came, it proved 
to be pleasant, so they started and reached 




HOUSE IN WHICH THE NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT OF THE COLONIES WAS SIGNED 
ON OCT. 31, 1765. 

Powles's Hook in time to cross over the Hud- 
son from there to New York before dark, which 
was considered very good time in those days. 
They were home in good time for supper, 



232 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

at which meal Robert had much to tell his 
mother of his trip. 

When Robert was ten years old, he was 
walking past (jolden Hill (now John Street), 
and saw there was some trouble between the 
citizens and soldiers. On inquiring of a man 
nearby, he found that the soldiers had cut 
down the liberty pole. While he was talking 
to the man, a blow was struck, and at it they 
went, soldiers with their bayonets, citizens with 
clubs, bludgeons, and stones. When the sol- 
diers drew off, it was found that one citizen 
had been killed, three wounded, and a number 
injured; while many of the soldiers were badly 
beaten. Some claim this to be " the first con- 
flict of the War of the Revolution." 

A small tablet has been placed at the corner 
of William and John streets to commemorate 
this event. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 233 



GOLDEN HILL. 

IIKRK JAXUARV 1 8, 1770, 

THE FKIIIT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN THE 

" SONS OF liberty" 

AND THE 

BRiriSH REOULARS. I 6TH FOOT. 

FH^ST BLOOD IN THE 

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 

ERECTFD llV THE SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 



When the Sons of Liberty were trying to 
prevent the landing of the taxed tea from the 
British ships in 1775, Robert managed to see 
all that was going on ; in fact, his father 
shrewdly suspected, from some feathers and 
war-paint he found in Robert's bedroom, that 
Robert might have been a good Indian the 
afternoon the Mohawks opened the hold of the 
London, Captain Chambers, took out all the 
tea there was aboard of her — eighteen chests 



234 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

— and, opening them, dumped the contents 
into the Hudson River. 

As Robert was coming from church at noon 
on Sunday, April 23, 1775, he saw a dusty and 
travel-stained horseman come dashing into the 
city. It was the messenger with the news of 
the Battle of Lexington. 

Now the lines between the Whigs and 
Tories, as the Americans and Loyalists were 
known, were tightly and sharply drawn. Rob- 
ert's only regret was that he was not old 
enough to be a soldier. One day, while down 
in Broad Street, he saw Marinus Willett stop 
a whole regiment of English soldiers. It hap- 
pened in this way: 

The regiment had been ordered to Boston. 
They were permitted to leave, by the Ameri- 
can authorities, on the stipulation that they 
should carry only their own pieces. Willett 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 235 

saw ahead of this regiment as it walked down 
Broad Street, five carts filled with cases of 
muskets. He stopped the first horse, and 
when asked by the major why he did this, told 
him they had no right to the arms, ordered the 
drivers to turn out and drive up Beaver Street, 
which they did. These arms were afterwards 
used by the first troops raised in New York 
by order of Congress. A tablet commemo- 
rating this event has been placed at the corner 
of Broad and Beaver streets. 



TU COMMEMORAIE THE GALLANT AND rATUIOl'lC 

ACT OF i\L\RLNUS WILLETT IN HERE SEIZINC;, 

JLNE 6TII, 1775, FROM BRITISH FORCES THE 

MUSKETS WITH WHICH HE ARMED HIS 

TROOPS. THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BV 

THE SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE 
REVOLUTION. NEW YORK, NOV., 1 892. 



Born, July, 1740. Marinus Willett. Died, Aug., 1830. 

Officer of New York Militia 1775-78. Sheriff of New York 17S4-92. 

Mayor of New York 1807-8. President of Electoral College 1S24. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 237 

Robert was on hand on the night in August 
when the Liberty Boys, one of whom was 
Alexander Hamilton, removed the guns from 
the Battery, and were fired on by the British, 
one of their number being killed. 

On July 9, Rob- 
ert noticed that the 
troops were assem- 
bling on the Com- 
mons. He has- 
tened to that spot, 
secured a place 
near the Liberty 
Pole, where he had 
a good view of 
General Washington as he sat on his horse in 
front of the troops, and listened to the reading 
of the Declaration of Independence. When 
this ceremony was over, and the troops dis- 




238 



FOUR FEW YORK BOYS 



persed, Robert followed the crowd to see what 
they were going to do. He soon found out. 
They went down Broadway, until they reached 
the statue of George III., where they stopped. 




From an old print. 

"the BRiriSH SHALL HAVE MELTED MAJESTY FIRED AT THEM." 

Busy hands attached a rope to its neck, and 
willing arms united to pull the statue over. 
It disappeared from public view. It was after- 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 239 

wards melted and run into bullets, which were 
used by the Continental troops. ' 

But the American troops were not long in 
possession of Ne^v York. The Battle of Long 
Island (August 27, 1776), saw our men de- 
feated. Escaping to New York, under cover 
of a heavy fog, they defeated the British at 
Harlem Heights the following month. 

A few days after the Harlem Heights affair, 
Nathan Hale, a captain in the Continental 
Army, was caught within the enemy's lines. 
There is but one penalty for this^ — death. 

"To drum-beat and heart-beat, 

A soldier marches by; 

There is color in his cheek, 

There is courage in his eye; 
Yet to drum beat and heart-beat 
In a moment he must die." 

And Nathan Hale left this world regretting 
that he had but one life to give for his country. 








NATHA HALE MONUMENT, MANHATTAN. 



FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 241 

Our troops were compelled to surrender 
Fort Washington, our last stronghold on 
Manhattan, to the enemy, on Nov. i6, and 
from that day until Nov. 25, i 783, New York 
was in the hands of the British. On the last- 
mentioned day, Robert, no longer a boy, saw 
the last boat-load of British leave the Battery, 
their flag come down, and the Stars and 
Stripes fly in the breeze. New York had seen 
the last of its colonial days. 




RIGHT MAKES MIGHT.* 

Ho ! Watchman of the city gate, 

How doth the city fare? 
Doth any foeman lurk and wait 

To pierce our armor there? 
And, Watchman, is the wall made stout 

With Freedom's holy might? 
And is it builded round about 

With Honor, Truth and Right ? 
Refrain : 

Oh ! yes, the city wall is strong, 

And proud our city's name — 

* By permission of tl e aulhc r. 



244 FOUR NEW YORK BOYS 

Our lives protect New York from wrong, 
Our deeds defend her fame ! 

The ship that rides on yonder Bay 

Has touched far India's strand. 
It bears our golden grain away 

To bless some distant land. 
The iron-clad horse, with lightning speed, 

And fire within its breast, 
Lays at our door, to meet our need, 

The riches of the West. 

But city walls are strong in vain, 

And wealth itself is poor, 
If men seek not a nobler gain 

In manly hearts secure. 
The flag above, with fearless hearts 

We'll dare to do the right, 
We'll do our great, our humble parts 

And right will make the might. 

— John Jerome Rooney. 




2:^^ 



OUTLINE MAP OP 

NEW YORK CITY 



SCALE OF MILES 



0-1 2 3 1 



34,00' West from (ii-iM-iiivKOi 



t« LM jy'JB 



